An inspiring story from one of our young adults, Anna, on World Youth Skills Day

World Youth Skills Day recognises the talents young people build and share internationally. Today we want to celebrate one of the many young adults at Mosaic who continue to thrive and are committed to learning and building new skills.

After a 2 year period of grieving, COVID-19 struck. I had already been ‘out’ of society for so long, having not worked since 2018 aside from a short stint in late 2019. Things felt hopeless, and days stretched out into months. I stopped going outside for walks, in fact, I stopped going outside completely unless it was completely necessary; I even began to drop contact with friends.

Fast forwards to May 2021, I was lucky enough to be forwarded on some information about the Prince’s Trust and, in particular, the various programmes they have running for young people (all of which you can see on their website). I was interested in their “Get Started in Graphic Design”, I had enjoyed doing art and photography some years ago, and was desperate to rekindle something in myself again. I didn’t know if this would work, and I was horribly anxious throughout the application process; however, for the first time in a long time, I was doing something for myself and actually… beyond the fear and apprehension, it felt kind of good.

I didn't expect that I would be picked out for the taster session, and much less to be picked out from the taster session to go ahead and do the full week-long course. I started the week having never created a graphic design in my life and finished on the Friday with a presentation on an actual real-life product, with my design on it! I met so many wonderful  young people along the way, and I even managed to learn a little about myself and prove myself wrong on a couple self-doubts, too.

You are capable of so much more than you believe, and I know this because I would have never dreamed of doing what I did just a couple of months ago. I didn’t think I had it in me. A hole can seem so deep when you’re in it, staring at the ground; be sure to look up every now and again, there might be an outstretched hand, willing to help you out.