More Than a Student Learning to Lead at BISW - Omar

If you told me two years ago that I’d be standing in front of a room full of students, running my own non-profit workshops, I would have laughed. Back then, I thought "changemakers" were adults with degrees, fancy suits, and decades of experience. I thought kids like me were just supposed to wait or be ordinary like everyone. But one ordinary afternoon at BISW, that entire mindset flipped upside down. 

I used to think that to create real change, you had to wait until you were older until you had a degree, a job, a bunch of experience and a formal title. But standing in a classroom at BISW, waiting for my peers to walk in for the very first Entrepreneurship Youth Leaders workshop, I realized I was wrong. I was terrified, my heart was racing, but I was about to do it anyway. 

That’s where BISW changed my entire perspective 

It all started with a simple thought: Why do young people with amazing ideas so rarely get the chance to turn them into real projects? I had always been passionate about entrepreneurship, sustainable development and youth empowerment, but turning that passion into an actual program inside the school felt daunting. Having an idea is easy; doing something about it is hard. Which is why I co-founded EYL (Entreupreuneurial young leaders), a non profit organization dedicated to introducing children to the world of entrepreneurship and empowering them to build their own businesses from scratch. 

When I brought my ideas to Ms. White-Hunt, like EYL or a composting project, I expected to be told to wait, to start smaller or even told that I'm too young to start something like this. Instead, she didn't just listen, she believed in it . She gave me the green light, guided me, and pushed me to take the project further than I originally thought I could. That was my turning point. I realized BISW wasn't just a place where you sit in class and listen to the teacher all the time, it was a community where your voice actually carries weight, and where teachers back you when you dare to take a risk, I'm very grateful for Mrs White-Hunt 

Stepping up to run those two workshops completely threw me out of my comfort zone. I had to map out the sessions, figure out how to keep my classmates engaged, and handle moments when things didn't go strictly to plan. I quickly learned that being a leader isn't about knowing every single answer or bossing people around, it's about listening, adapting on the fly, and bringing people along with you. 

The moment that stayed with me wasn't finishing the presentation, it was seeing the reaction from other students. Watching them lean in, share their own ideas, and start believing that they could launch something too was incredible. I went into that room just trying to run a workshop, but I walked out realizing I had created a space for others to find their own confidence. 

That experience transformed how I see myself and my role in a community. It proved to me that you don't need permission to make a difference, and you don't need to wait until "someday." 

As I am going to continue my studies in Austria I will take this initiative forward into its next chapter in Vienna while keeping the connections with BISW alive. The biggest lesson I take with me is simple: An idea only stays small if you keep it to yourself. 

To any student reading this across the Nord Anglia community: if you have an idea, a project, or a voice you want to use, don't wait. Express it, find the people who will back you, and dare to make it happen.