As time was ticking, empty chairs became witnesses to the long hall of absent seats. An hour passed, and still, there was no audience to hear the presentations, leaving my heart heavy. This disheartening scene unfolded at Anatolia Cultural Center of Irvine–a community founded on the interfaith dialogue and education principles–during a monthly conference designed to build a connection between the youth and their cultural roots.
The most concerning aspect of this absence is that, without the active involvement of youth, who are the forthcoming leaders of the Turkish community, the community would be at risk of losing its rich traditions and heritage. This would leave a void that no one else could fill. Therefore, someone had to step forward and bridge this gap. And that person was me.
For a year, I used social media and personal meetings to plan events that would draw the youth in, such as soccer and FIFA tournaments. I continued with tutoring middle school students in the community who are undergoing challenges akin to mine, underlining the importance of them grasping their identities and cultural roots. But the most significant improvement of all was having weekly conferences with the older leaders of the community about which activities or events align with the interests of the youth members. With these new improvements, I increased the attendance at these monthly conferences from 5 to 18.
Present day, the community is thriving. When I attend these meetings, I see new faces and hear the buzzing of voices. I smell our food and dance to our music. Right now we have members in the youth committee who are organizing events themselves and fundraising for charities. The youth committee is even organizing interfaith dinners with other groups. We are even going as far as inviting the mayor of our city over for special dinners.
I am fulfilled, knowing that my resilient and ambitious attitude helped create the atmosphere the Turkish youth wanted to be a part of. More importantly, I’m grateful that they too, want to contribute to our community’s legacy, to preserve our identities.