"You have an advantage as you have grown with technology, but what is new for you and all of us is Artificial Intelligence, so get comfortable with it" -Stephanie Urchick.
Stephanie Urchick, poses for a picture with some of the Rotary officials and youth.
The Rotary International
President, Stephanie Urchick, has advised youth to embrace technology
meaningfully, speak, and write well to attract employers. She was on Saturday evening speaking to 240 youths currently undertaking the Rotary Youth Leadership Awards
(RYLA) program, at Kaazi – Busabala.
RYLA, which targets youth
between 17 and 30 years is designed to equip young leaders with the skills,
knowledge, and networks to succeed. The program is built on four core pillars of
leadership development, personal growth, community engagement, and networking.
In her speech, Urchick
narrated to the youth her background in higher education where she performed
administrative work in colleges and universities.
“I was helping people
register, pay the bills, and that kind of thing. But half of it was working
with career services…helping young people figure out what they wanted to do
with their future, what kind of jobs they wanted to get, and helping them find
those jobs. I want to talk to you about the skills you need today and tomorrow.
It doesn’t matter what job you end up having. There are skills that every
employer wants you to have,” she said.
The Rotary International
President encouraged youth to get comfortable with technology, specifically Artificial
Intelligence.
“It doesn’t matter what
job you have, even if you are a farmer, there is technology in every single job
that we have today," Urchick noted." You have an advantage because you have grown with it. But
what is new for you and all of us, of course, is Artificial Intelligence, so
get comfortable with it because it is going to help move all of us as we
continue to move forward, and who knows what is going to be beyond that.”
However, she hastened to
caution the youth about the dark side of Artificial Intelligence and appealed
that they should make sure that they remember the Rotary core values of
integrity by using the technology in the right way.
“Back in the U.S, in my own
area, someone who is a cyber-security expert has already shown me that on the
dark web, there is an image of me, with my voice, talking about things that are
never going to happen in Rotary. So, people are using Artificial Intelligence
for the wrong reasons. So let's make a pledge that we will continue to do it
for the right reason,” she cautioned.
In addition to embracing
technology, Urchick also told the youth that the other key skill employers always
ask for is - people who speak well.
She encouraged them to
always make use of public speaking opportunities since employers, in all
professionals, look for people who are able to do so.
“You know there has been
a lot of studies, and research and they list things that people were most
afraid of and number three on the list is dying but number one is public
speaking," Urchick revealed. "People would rather die than speak in public. So take every
opportunity you can, here at RYLA, in your school environment, in your
churches, everywhere, you have a chance to take a microphone, do it because it
prepares you for today and tomorrow.”
The youth were also tipped
about good writing skills and avoiding to use shortcuts availed by technology
while making formal communication.
Maureen Tumwebaze, the District
9213 Chair for RYLA, said that the program this year is under the theme; ‘Passion,
Action, Reaction’, and that the youth are given tools to grow and turn dreams
into action to solve problems.
The youth displayed their
skills in plastic recycling, liquid soap making, paper bag production, and making
of re-usable sanitary towels.
“The youth are the
leaders of today and without empowering youth, our countries are doomed," Tumwebaze explained. "We are
also equipping them with challenge resilience and how to handle success as
well.”
Urchick, the second woman
to serve as president of Rotary International, arrived in Uganda on Sunday
night for a week-long visit aimed at showcasing and deepening the
organization’s impact in the country.
Rotary unites a global
network of volunteer leaders dedicated to tackling the world’s most pressing
humanitarian challenges and creating lasting change. Rotary connects 1.4
million people of action from more than 46,000 Rotary clubs in almost every
country in the world.
Their service improves lives at both local and
international levels.