During the summer holidays, Young Observer will feature highlights of the past academic year, focusing on middle and senior school students. This week the series shines a light on the Future Leaders Camp.

We had the opportunity to meet Ryan Perinchief, who recently delivered the Future Leaders Camp.

How old are you?

I will be 21 at the end of August.

And your studies?

I am a second-year law student at the University of Durham in the UK.

Describe yourself

I always have trouble describing myself, but I would say I’m someone who is ambitious but with a strong sense of purpose. I am an aspiring lawyer, entrepreneur and philanthropist. I also like to test my limits as much as possible.

Your biggest accomplishments?

Having my submission to the Sage Commission selected as the best in my category back in 2013 was pretty fulfilling. I am also a proud Rotary Exchange student — Brazil 2014. And, of course, I’d consider the creation of the Future Leaders Programme to be one of my proudest, more recent achievements.

Good Books

I am by no means “well-read”, but my favourite book is The Autobiography of Malcolm X as told to Alex Haley. I also like Assata Shakur’s autobiography, and revolutionary history books in general. I’m trying to diversify my bookshelf a bit more and think more inwardly though, so I just bought a book by Rollo May called Man’s Search for Himself. We’ll see how that goes.

A new programme encouraging students to become leaders in their community held its closing ceremony and programme showcase last night.

What is your dream?

To be in a position where I’m financially stable enough to be able to help others and focus my energy into thinking of solutions to everyday humanitarian issues.

If you could sit on a bench with one person and chat for one hour, who would it be?

God. Bob Marley. Jay-Z. Elon Musk. Assata Shakur. Decisions …

What is the Future Leaders Programme?

The Future Leaders Programme is essentially a social justice course for teenagers: you learn about a particular social issue, read as to some of the theories behind it (on a college level), then you go out into the community and see it first-hand.

Sometimes experts from the community come in and present on the issue as well, but it always ends with a discussion and reflection period.

We did this for three weeks, touching on issues like gang violence, wealth inequality, racism, and leadership.

One of the biggest lessons I learnt was that our collective potential is limitless, and that every individual problem falls down to one’s mindset.

Originally, the programme was going to be meant for academically advanced students, but we ended up accepting anyone who wanted to join. We had a range of kids from different academic levels and backgrounds. I was a bit worried about that at first, due to the high complexity of the learning material.

But what we found was that once we created an environment that was conducive to learning, the kids essentially taught themselves.

They became self-motivated and were literally begging for more things to read and study up on. By the end of the programme, they had reinvented themselves and were ready to take on the next challenge.

It really made me think about the way in which we are educating our kids on a national level and whether we have created a system that is limiting them rather than inspiring them.

What’s next for you?

In all honesty, I’m not quite sure. The effect of the first Future Leaders session is still sinking in. The students even asked me if we could turn the Future Leaders Programme into a weekly club, but as I am still in law school, so I have to put that proposal on hold for now.

I definitely think the programme will continue next summer, but in the meantime I’m focusing on making some improvements and exploring how I can expand the Future Leaders Programme into something a bit more sustainable.

The aim is to allow it to grow organically into something that can inspire future leaders for generations to come.

For more pictures of the camp click along the carousel.