Flight of Freedom

by Dominika Lasota (Poland)

Making a local connection Poland

In my village in Poland, there runs a two-kilometer Path of Freedom between two fields of wheat. I used to take my bike to ride there, and, looking at the eternal stretch of moving grass, I felt I had no limits. Cycling fast, I let my hair loose and yelled out loud under the blue sky. At the edge of the fields, I stopped. The panorama of a nearby city gleamed with the possibilities. I looked around and took a deep breath, hoping the air could lift me off and carry into the big world. Yet still firmly on the ground, I had to pick up my bike and cycle back home, only to dream of discovering the other reality one day. As much as I loved the simplicity of life within it, my hometown could not contain my curiosity. Watching the news at 7 p.m., I would carefully note all the unknown terms the anchor would mention. “We are all elements of something outstretching the village's boundaries.” I thought. When my mom asked me which superpower I would like to have, I said flying; to explore that world's complexity - seen from the fields, the news, and all the copies of National Geographic I read before sleep. In an attempt to understand society’s networks, my relatives and friends were asked countless ‘Why’s and ‘How’s, though I felt the answers still laid beyond our hometown. But soon, at the age of 16, I took off the ground. With the ticket I earned when I was awarded a scholarship to a school in the UK, I embarked on a journey to the world of opportunity. Surrounded by shelves full of books and piano playing in the background, I found myself wandering in the landscape of power. The banners I held with my friends during a local climate strike transformed into electronic agendas I prepared for meetings with school officials to change environmental policy. Heated conversations with my neighbors about “liars tearing our constitution” shifted to closed-room debates with politicians in elegant suits on the “downfall of democracy”. With the beams of power shining around, I saw the doors to having an impact opening for me. But, for it not to be blinding, I treated it as a call of duty. The accessed international panorama led me to write about the importance of power-sharing, through which I met with the UN Envoy on Youth. Fuelled by our conversation about youth activism, I built my strength further to empower others. While giving a speech on having enough to improve the status quo to the 300-people-audience of the Yale Young Global Scholars program, I felt I had not just crossed the border to the sphere of chances - I was finally flying. Flying high. However, landing back in a smaller-scale reality of Poland is an integral part of my journey. With the wings of educational privilege, I reach the international circles, but to balance the power, I seek it in simple human connections at local levels. With the broader perspective on society's gamut, I aim to enable other young people to access the perspectives of experts and their peers from around the world to help them better mobilize their action upon social and environmental issues in which power restricts people's freedom. My multidimensional youth serves as a connection between the big and the small world. I weave those many sides of my life just as my grandma used to braid my hair when I was five - meticulously, with care, but at times getting lost and starting from scratch. When I walk among those wheat fields nowadays, I stop at the end of the Path. In experiencing those multiple lives I can take in the air of full freedom. Yet, I will not stop there but fight for others to breathe it in as well. So that one day I will be able to say: I am not flying alone.