International Youth Day: Parami student leaders show impact starts with a small step

Every year on August 12, people around the world celebrate International Youth Day. It is a time to recognize the contributions of young people and the positive changes they are making in their communities. For many young people, these contributions take place in the face of challenges that affect their education, families, and communities.

Parami students know these challenges firsthand. They come from different backgrounds and places, and many are growing up in circumstances where schools may close unexpectedly, financial pressures can make education difficult, and communities continue to face change and uncertainty. Yet, despite these challenges, many continue to find ways to learn, support others, and contribute to their communities.

Students often connect what they learn in class with issues they see around them. Their interests and experiences shape how they contribute to their communities and wider society.

This has led to student-led initiatives such as Project Luminary and the Parami Environmental Club. Both began when students noticed challenges around them and decided to take action.

The two projects focus on different issues. Project Luminary helps young people access learning opportunities and navigate the university application process, while the Parami Environmental Club works with local communities to raise awareness about plastic waste. Their stories offer a glimpse into how Parami students are turning what they learn into action beyond the classroom.

Before joining Parami, Kaung Myat Phyo, known to friends as Kelvin, spent months trying to figure out higher education on his own. Like many young people in Myanmar, he had very little guidance.

"Before joining Parami, I had personally gone through what has become a common confusion of trying to figure out higher education with very limited guidance," he said. "After Parami helped clear that confusion, I got a simple instinct: I wanted to help a few other young people avoid having to figure everything out alone."

That small instinct grew into something bigger. Kelvin and his fellow founders wanted to build the kind of learning space many young people in Myanmar are missing, even when they attend traditional schools: a place where young people can talk about difficult social issues, question ideas, and speak up with confidence. They named that program "Pathways & Perspectives," which later grew into Project Luminary, a free, student-led initiative that helps other young people apply to universities, build research skills, and learn digital tools. Today, Kelvin leads the project.

Since it began in December 2023, Project Luminary has reached more than 120 people in Myanmar, Thailand, and refugee camps. Led by Parami students, the project offers free workshops on college applications, essay writing, and critical thinking. In recognition of this peer-led approach and its impact on communities, Project Luminary won First Place in the 2026 MacJannet Prize for Global Citizenship and received a USD 10,000 award. 

Some young people may feel their contribution is too small or they don’t have enough experience to make a difference. Project Luminary is proof that you can start from something small. And Kelvin’s message to these young people is "Just take steps. "As a saying goes, a journey of a thousand miles must begin with one single step. You might and must be taking that very first step. Give it your best shot and take comfort in knowing that you are moving, but don't get trapped in that comfort zone."

For Kelvin, action also starts inside. His advice to Parami students is to become more self-aware and learn to tell their own stories.

"We spend a lot of time learning about social issues and others, but understanding ourselves matters just as much," he said. "I've seen many Burmese youths speak eloquently about issues they care about, yet struggle in international spaces when the conversation turns to their own experiences, values, and perspectives, and I've experienced this myself. Knowing the world matters, but so does knowing yourself and being able to communicate it."

Myo Myint Maung, the secretary of the student-led Environmental Club, sees his work differently. For him, it is not a hobby or a way to fill free time.

"This isn't a hobby. It's not something I squeeze into my free time," he said. "I have been given a proper education from Parami University that taught me to see inequality clearly, and that gift is not neutral; it's a debt. Running this club is simply how I repay it. If you can name injustice and you do nothing, what was the education for? Driven by a sense of duty, the club organized Taunggyi's first "Responsible Market," where student leaders helped local vendors replace plastic bags with eco-friendly alternatives. It is a small change in one city. But as Myo Myint Maung points out, small changes are exactly where change begins.

"Stop waiting to feel big or ready," he said. "If you have learned even one thing that can serve your community, you already have enough to begin. The world does not need you to be an expert first. It needs you to be faithful in small things now. Your sense of responsibility is far more powerful than your level of experience."

He shared two simple ways Parami students can put their learning into practice.

First, connect what you learn to a real need in your community. Use your knowledge to explain an idea in your local language, record an elder’s knowledge before it is lost, or identify an injustice that your studies have helped you understand. “Knowledge hoarded is knowledge wasted,” he said.

Second, pay attention to what happens to your waste. Think about who is affected by the choices you make every day. Even simple actions, such as carrying a reusable bag, can help reduce waste and show that small choices can contribute to bigger change.

Two youths, two projects, and two very different causes. One focuses on education and voice; the other on markets and plastic.  Different contexts, common aspirations.

Leadership can take many forms. It can mean using what you have learned to support others or taking small steps to address challenges in your community. Sometimes, it is as simple as spending an hour teaching a skill to someone younger or carrying a reusable bag when you shop. 

These individual efforts are part of a growing movement of young people taking action in their communities. Dr. Kyaw Moe Tun, President of Parami University, believes that supporting young people is especially important during uncertain times.

“Young people are the future,” he said. “We need to empower them to become responsible leaders and global citizens who can help build a more peaceful and prosperous world. International Youth Day is an important reminder of why this support matters.”

Students like Kelvin and Myo Myint Maung are already living those words. They are showing that context does not define your impact. Motivation does. As International Youth Day approaches, their stories carry one simple message for every young person reading this: “You do not need to be big to begin. You only need to begin.”