Hello GYLC scholars! Below you will find helpful tips & words of advice from those who know best: alumni of the Conference!

To start you off, Ali (phoenix) wants to share his advice with all of you!

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1. Don't feel intimidated by others, some may appear intimdiating but they are just like you who want to meet new people. As cheesy as that sounds.
2. Get your friends e-mails before leaving otherwise it will be such a hassle once you get back home.

Ali (phoenix)
Bahrain
July 2-13th, 2006

*GYLC Alumni, if you'd like to add your words of advice, please do so!

1. Firstly, try to organize some sort of collection of e-mail and mailing addresses of your fellow students in the group to which you're assigned. Even if you don't think you'll ever talk to someone in your group, merely having a way to contact them could be priceless - I've spent over five years trying to contact one particular person and to this day haven't found a way to talk to her.

2. Keep some sort of notepad or notebook separate from the notes you take in seminars and classes. You'll find yourself constantly wanting to write down thoughts, contact information, or experiences of everyday life at the conference.

3. Your faculty group leader is a valuable resource; he or she had to pass rigorous scrutiny to help mentor you. Be sure to get his or her contact information too, and keep in touch because he or she will be an excellent person from whom you can get a letter of recommendation or a reference.

4. The most important thing to remember through your busy days of classes, seminars, and sight-seeing is to have loads of fun. Speaking of sight-seeing, take pictures. Lots of pictures. Take pictures of landmarks. Take pictures of your room. Take pictures of your class. Take pictures of yourself. Take pictures of your friends. You'll regret it if you don't. If you can't afford a camera of any sort, be sure to get the contact information of someone in your group who has a camera and make sure he or she will post pictures on a website.

5. Lastly, The most important thing you will take away from this conference are the memories. Treasure them, because you'll be using your experiences from the conference for the rest of your life, and you should never forget from where you got them.

Luke (LukeSwinford)
Connecticut
NYLC: July 3-14th, 2000
GYLC: July 2-13th, 2001

Hey
If you're reading this it probably means that you're attending GYLC in 2008- lucky you! Before I went (22nd July - 2nd August 2007) I was excited but nervous at the same time which was unusual because i'm not really a nervous person. I was the only person i knew that was going and as far as i knew the only person from Scotland (however there truned out to be three of us altogether). I was also just 15 and half so i was one of the youngest there. However NONE of that mattered. Everyone was amazng! It didn't matter where you came from or how old you were. As it turned out people were quite interested in Scotland. My main words of advice are:
1) it is a lot of work but don't get stressed out or nervous about learning things for speeches or meetings you are there to have fun and if the people in our group were half as understanding as mine it will be great.
2) take a camera!
3) don't take the experience for granted..it will effect you more than you realise. I still talk to some people in my group at least a couple of times a week and had serious withdrawl symptoms when i was over.
4) get facebook before you go.Seriously forget myspace or bebo most people have facebook and its so much easier to find people through it. i didn't have it before i left but i made one the day i got back and if i hadn't i don't think i would have managed to sty in touch with people so well.

enjoy your GYLC experience

Anna McDonald

Ok well a lot of the below will sound like a repeat of what Anna said but anyway hehe

GYLC is one of the most amazing experiences ever! The most important thing is to keep in touch with everyone. I got to know people beforehand thanks to this forum and facebook and keep in touch with them through facebook. Create a group on facebook for your session and people will gradually join it. Make sure that you keep writing down everyone's contact details and stay in touch!
Also, before leaving your hotel/dorm, make sure you've taken everything; don't want to lose anything.
Take lots and lots of pictures or make sure someone will send you the pictures; the memories are priceless
Go with an open mind. Since there are people from over 100 countries, the cultures are bound to vary, so just accept them and adapt.
Wake up on time! One really doesn't want to have to skip breakfast or be late! Set a couple of alarm clocks and make sure you and your room mates leave enough time for all of you to get ready.
The main thing while you're there, is to be friendly! Walking up to a random stranger may seem rather intimidating but you might just walk away with one more great friend! Everyone else will be as nervous as you and will definitely appreciate it if you take the first step
Lastly, each of those 12 days are precious and if I could go back in time, I would. Cherish each moment and even if you find you don't like someone, just be nice; you don't want any fights.
Good luck and I envy everyone who is going!

xx

Nadia Hasan
Vive La France!!
24th June-5th July
Always and forever

thank u so much guys (:
please, tell me more, it makes me much more confident!

and i would have a few questions.
is every single person going to make a speach? does everyone speak perfect english there?
do u get "homework" for the evenings, and if, what kind of?
(: thanks!
nadja

Samantha anna and nadia thank you soo much for your guidelines
i will ensure that i follow each of em n hopefully have an amazing time

yea thnx guys...almost all of u said tht the experience was ammazin..so i would expect mine to be aswel...
yeaa..i'll be lookin out for a reply to nadja questions, if u do find out sumwher else nadja plz let me knw!

hey farhad..m livin in dubai too...wat date are u goin too??

wqhen we choose a leader do we have to make a presentation about them?

hey old gylcers, we've got questions, where are you hiding..? :P

nadja

Hi,
Not hiding ask i will see what i can do. Not really a presentation Iliana, just you have to say who it is and why do you think he/she is a great leader. As for Nadja question's no not everyone has to make a speech it is up to you when the occasion comes up to speak if you would like to say something then say it. No everyone doesnt speak perfect english. As for home work you don't really get home work, at the begining of the conference you get the Handbook to guide you throught the conference and seing that the days are pretty much packed with LGM's site visits and Lectures then the night is the only time to read other than some free time and lunch and the book has each day laid out so the night before you have to read up on the following day's chapter.

Yours GYLC'ier
2006 Alumni
Vishal Singh

I'm not a GYLC alumni, but I'm an alumni of NYLC and though the experiences are going to be a lot different in some aspects (I'm heading off to GYLC Europe this summer!), I know there's a lot of it the same.

1. Get to know your room mates as soon as possible! You will be rooming with these girls or boys for 12 days. Think about it as a marriage; though you'll be spending your days with different people in your LGM and Mock groups, these are the two people you'll be coming "home" to every evening.

2. Speaking of getting to know people, don't be intimidated by going up to others and talking to them. GYLC and NYLC are NOT places to be shy-- when will you ever get this opportunity to know this person again? And if you make a bad impression or you feel embarrassed, don't worry! You might not ever have to see that person again

3. Take a lot of pictures of everything but most of all take a lot of pictures with YOU in them. I didn't take enough pictures with me in them and I regret it! I'm a photographer so I tend to go behind the camera, not in front of it. But this summer it'll be different!

4. Don't miss out on opportunities just because you're tired and want to go to bed at night. Granted, there are some nights where you just HAVE to sleep, but if you and your room mates are having a dank conversation, don't stop it just because you have to wake up in the morning. There's coffee and tea for that wake-up.

Some of my best memories are the ones I have going over my book and all the information with my room mates. There was a coffee pot in the room that we abused; sitting up late watching crappy television, going over China's policy pertaining to Taiwan, drinking coffee and only getting 4 hours of sleep...those are the nights that memories are made of.

If you want to ask me anything else, definitely drop me an e-mail at keickmeyer@hotmail.com

Hope to see y'all this summer!
Kase

Hi guys!! I'm one of the GYLC alumi and since everyone so far has pretty much given excellent advice i'll just offer myself to answer any questions you girls (and guys) may have just keep in mind this is going to be on of the THE best experiences of your LIFE!!!! so enjoy it to the fullest!! i lookf forward to hearing from you all.
J'elle.
GYLC July 30-August 10 2006.

One thing about this conference is that everyone gets shy at first, but later on, they are good friends. So don't be afraid to meet someone new, who knows? you two may have the same interests and still come from different countries! Everyone makes fast friends at GYLC whether they are in the same LGMs, ride the same bus, are roomates, or just sit at the same table at mealtime. Whatever the case, open up and make friends, just like I did!

Hey everyone! Sound like you all have brilliant memories about your respective GYLC trips! Hoping to make a few of my own in 2009! Just wondering how expensive the US is? I am from South Africa and am wondering how much extra money (in $) you took on the trip! Thanx so much!

well, i had $350 in travelers checks plus my credit card. i spent my last travelers check in Penn Station the last day. I would take a minimum of $400 in traveler's checks plus about $2-300 in hard currency. there were a lot of things i wanted to get that i couldn't get because the old man was stingy with the money.

Okay so if your reading this youve been accepted to GYLC! Congrats!
Some of my fondest memories of this past summer (2008) are from GYLC. Seriously i wish i had a time machine and could go back in time and do everything all over again. It was the most fun i had ever had. My advice take lots of pictures belive me. When it over you are goig to cherish everything you have from it like i still have my nametag. (its hanging on my wall with all my other gylc stuff). You will meet sooo many people from all over. Dont be shy they are just as scared to talk to a stranger as you are and hey you never know how much you might have in common. Oh also take down e-mail adresses, facebooks,mayspaces,etc.. while you can because if you are like me and like ot wait till the last day you wont get everyone because everyone is so busy trying to catch planes,buses and trains that you'll miss people. Other advice dont be scared of being alone by yourself. I know that GYLC was the first time i was away from my parents. I seriously felt sad when they left me at the hotel and heading back home. I missed them for about 5 minutes until i started talking to people. Seriously after that i really didnt miss my parents. Everyone there is friendly and is in the same position you are.

The people who you really become friends with are people in your LGM. Those 20 some people are who you will be spending most of your time with and will get to know very well. I can still name all of them and LGM;s can be serious but oyu can also have fun. FOr example my LGM played a a game one day and another day we just laughed for a good 20 minutes. Most of the funny moments happen in LGM.

Another thing is actually listen to the speakers. I know i felt the same way. I thought they were going to be really boring and talk about useless info i would probably never need. Well i was wrong. i ended up enjoying what they said and it gave me a different perspective of the world and helped me in some of my classes this semester.

GYLC is going to be the most amazing 12 days of your life. Believe me when i tell you, you will not want to go home. I seriously woke up the next morning and wondered where everyone was. I still keep in contact with all the friends i made from so many parts of the world. I find it hilarious when my mom ask me who i'm talking to and i say " oh just my friend from China or New Zealand" and she looks at me kinda funny until she remembers that it is probably some GYLC kid. I seriously loved GYLC and oyu probably will to.

Advice
-take a million and one pictures
-get some form of contact from everyone you meet
(like e-mail, or facebook)
- dont be nervous or shy
-listen to the speakers
-and most of all enjoy those amazing 12 days


hope i helped =)



GYlC July 13-24
Always in my heart <3

I dunno if this has been said yet, but make sure you bring a small notepad to write people's names down to add them on facebook, get emails, stuff like that.

Also, I highly suggest phrasebooks to learn a bit of the language in the area, the people really appreciate the effort (I was able to order food in hungarian pretty handily by the 3rd day we were there, and did it in Prague too!)

Another simple thing you can do is make sure you have lots of pockets. Seemed I didn't have enough at times.

take lots of pictures, get a facebook, get to know your roommates, and have fun...they are the most important things you can do...most of anything else i would say is already here.

just be yourself and don't be shy!
You'll have No language problems, no criticism...trust me!
I really enjoyed my GYLC trip and that was fantastic. Really. I have NYC behind my eyes.

hey!!i'm coming for the 2009,june 14 to 25th session and have loads to ask!!what all do we do to prepare as we hve no idea!!