"It isn't the place it used to be,it was a lot better."Said Grandma as she told her talesOf the place where my home lies today.She described:"Serene and greenwith trees and pastutes whereherds grazed and packs preyed."She spoke of:"The fresh air and water,the farms that fed the villagers."She recounted:"Then came progress,that turned houses into farms,roads into forests,and filled the air with smokes and dust."It was her share of story.But if I should share mine,ages hence from today,I know the...

Every year on June 20, the world commemorates World Refugee Day. Last year, I had the privilege of participating in the UN's World Humanitarian Summit which proposed a global humanitarian agenda. How have we shaped the world since? At the pre-summit consultation in Berlin, I met Ahmad, a Syrian refugee kid who had just crossed the borders. He taught me some lessons that remain with me until this very day._________2016 in Istanbul, UN agencies, heads of state, civil society actors came together f...

“make your last journeyfrom this strange worldsoar for the heightswhere there is no moreseparation of you and your homeGod has createdyour wings not to be dormantas long as you are aliveyou must try more and moreto use your wings to show you’re alive”― RumiLately, my mind has been in turmoil. I turn and toss in bed every night thinking. Days are worse. Constant nagging thoughts are staring me in my face. Every single day I almost forget the functioning robot that I am. I had fallen into a viciou...

Writing takes you on a magical dance. Before this internship, I had forgotten what it was like to follow the flow and rhythm of syllables, pull the strings on the marionettes of logos, ethos, and pathos, and walk with whirling wonder alongside alliteration and assonance. Through writing, you can conjure up impossible possibilities – paint purple skies and dye the sea red. With a stroke of the pen, you can eliminate prejudice, racism, sexism, and ageism from history or thrust humanity into an et...

It wasn’t like I didn’t know it would happen, but rather, that it would happen sooner than later. The green pastures used to fill the valley, thousands of flowers of different colors could be easily seen in the infinite green background. I remember being totally carefree at 7 years old running in the valley with my friends while we played with a paper-made soccer ball. Things used to be so different back in those days. Now I’m 16 years old and I’m not a child anymore. I’m aware of everything t...

It is quite a commonplace when I meet new people and I tell them that I study economics that I am asked the same question, “What do you think about the future of Greek economy”? Most of the times I laugh ironically because I don’t have a precise answer prepared every time, but once I think about it for a second I answer with certainty “uncertain and insecure” and this is my opinion about global economy as well.It is unfortunate that economists have been trying for the last 250 years-since Adam S...

I don't know if the people really don't know what happens in this world, or if they are just ignorant, or probably they don't really care about the future of this world. This is something that, if we don't think about it, many other people feel it in our place."Our decision, each decision that we make has positive and also negative consequence"This is something that I really want to say it to the people that are far away from here but under the same sky, that have the possibility to start a new...

Unknown I am, no face for me,Never will be accepted in the family tree,A renegade, a smudge on people,Power of my words so feeble.Why are we outcasts, the banished?Why are our people so tarnished?We love people we cannot love,Hanging our fates in verve.You destroy us, malign us, frame us,Over our very identity you fuss,We are your scapegoats for wrong,But now we sound a new gong.I love a man, a woman, not your concern,I love someone, not the way you discern,It’s a free world, it’s my right,But w...

As a young 10 year old I remember making a simple kaleidoscope. I was awe struck by the marvellous patterns it created and the unique ambiguity of the designs. I fell in love with more than just the beautiful designs on display, but how this modest instrument taught me that life is beautiful and that sometimes you just need to look at it with a unique perspective.The kaleidoscope is an optical instrument, where two or more reflective surfaces meet at an incline. The instrument constructs amazing...