Fridays for Future

A sudden stop gave me and my sister a slight push towards the two car seats in front of us, snapping us out of our daydreams and showing us that we had finally arrived to our destination. It had only been a few days since my sister informed me about the protest going on, regarding global warming and climate change. We both got out of the car and into the sidewalk, her phone buzzing as one of our friends, which we were planning to meet, kept calling her. All I was able to understand was “Hey Sindi” and “Mother Theresa square”, however that still gave me a good idea of what was going on. As me and my sister were speed walking to the Mother Theresa square, there was no group of people to be found; the square stood completely empty. Questioning our sanity, we called our friend once more in order to make sure we were in the right place. She explained that the crowd was moving around different places so we needed to speed up, and after describing to us a new location which she didn’t know the name of, we began following the helpful yet confusing directions that were given. 

My feet started marching in synchronization to my sister’s, following the direction she was moving since she was talking to our friend over the phone. As the speed of my walk and heartbeat speedily kept building up, we both saw a group of people, larger than we expected, ahead in the distance. Knowing it was them, we used the small energy we had left to jog towards them, while trying to recognize where some of our friends were in the group. After we finally found them, we continued walking to our final destination, Skanderbeg square. 

As we sat around the square in a circle, various people were talking about different issues and topics, using a megaphone in order to enhance their sound. They were a few TV Companies that were filming the process, interviewing different people and trying to get a shot of everything that was happening. The megaphone was being passed around to people, making me more and more tempted to reach for it and voice my opinions. However, I was pretty sure that I wasn’t brave enough to do so. That was until my friend reached the megaphone and started speaking about how these issues are so critical to the future, that even the youngest generations are starting to get involved in politics and activism, whereas this wouldn’t be common at all compared to the other generations when they were younger. I looked at my friend with admiration, finally becoming brave enough to ask for the megaphone. As I was holding it with my shaking hand, I began to speak. I voiced my opinions regarding issues such as these, how important awareness is, and how every little thing can help contribute. Even though I might’ve only spoken for a short period of time, it felt like forever, my voice trembling through every word I was saying. After I was finished speaking, people started clapping and cheering, making me feel much better and letting me know how unnecessary the fear which I felt before and during my talk was. 

This experience showed me how more aware our generation is regarding global issues, something which I don’t think was common compared to other generations when they were young. Gen Z-ers are starting to become more conscious of the fact that it’s time to let our voices be heard, since we are going to be the ones who will have to deal with the outcome of decisions currently being made. It’s truly fascinating how this probably started as something really small, yet the contribution of each person let it grow, becoming helpful and empowering to the message spread. Overall, this experience reminded me to never underestimate the importance of contribution and awareness.