Hey guys!

So after seeing my name as a finalist for the Millennium Youth Camp, I was pretty excited. I spent almost the whole day googling more about the camp, what would happen, who else was in it, etc. So I wanted to explain what happened next (at least in my case):

Right After Seeing Your Name: If you read my prior post about applying to the Millennium Youth Camp, then you would know that I didn't wait for an email from the organizers of the camp, and went straight to the website to find out. Well after I checked the website, a little while after they sent an email to tell everyone to look on the website to see if they're a finalist or not. At that point, I was really happy and really excited. I wanted to meet the other campers so I created the facebook group for finalists of the 2014 camp and posted it on the official Millennium Youth Camp Facebook Page. Someone in the group also made a WhatsApp group, which as an American, I didn't use previously but now use extensively. It allows you to text anyone, anywhere for no charge (its based on wifi).

Anyways, a lot of people started joining, and I was able to meet the other people of the Millennium Youth Camp. We all introduced ourselves in this really long Facebook comment thread, and soon not only the campers, but also the organizers and past camp participants (who would be our "guides" during the camp) also joined and we were able to learn more about the camp. After I created the Facebook Group and met most of the people, I received an email that was the official "Congratulations, you're a finalist" letter, and detailed what would be coming.

Right after the Email: In the email letter, they congratulated all of us for getting in, they talked about flights and how we would be contacted by someone from the airlines (the flights, along with everything is paid for by the Millennium Youth Camp, which is awesome), and they talked about our next assignment which we would do through Edmondo. Edmondo is a really cool website; the layout reminds me of Facebook. You're able to use Edmondo for private groups, and private groups within those private groups (The Millennium Youth Camp was the general group, and all of the project groups like Urban Planning, had their own group).
Anyways, we got a Login credential for that, and we were all able to meet on Edmondo and meet our guides for the camp (which some were able to also do later on the Facebook group).

Weeks after the Email: A week or two after the email, we found out our official project assignments that we would continue to work on during the camp. A misconception some people may have is that we only work on the projects during camp - that's not true. You work on the project the months before camp, but still do some work during camp. But a majority of the work is done before camp. Also by this time, you should be well acquainted with your other group members. There are 2 guys and 4 girls in my group (including myself). We're all around 16-17 [I'm on that latter half of the age end, since two days after the camp ends, I will be 18. Good thing, 16-19 is the eligible age range!]. My group members seem really cool and we're all from different parts of the world. Two people are from Brazil, I'm from America, one person is from New Zealand, one person is from the Ukraine, and one person is from the Czech Republic.

Working on our Projects: The projects we were working on were similar in nature to the proposals we had to make during the second round of the application process. However, what we actually we're researching was different (but related!). We had to have a draft of our project due May 11th. After doing all of the research for the project draft, I can definitely say that I know much more about Finland now! A week before the projects were due, I organized a group Skye call with the people in my team (Urban Planning). First off, planning a group Skye call from people in various time zones is a very, very difficult task. However, I used this website, to organize all of our time zones to UTC, and determine the best time to have the group Skye call. Check out the image below to see:

When we had our Skype call, it was very interesting to talk to everyone! We've all been communicating through Facebook and Edmondo, so hearing their voices (and awesome accents) and seeing their faces was nice! We're planning a few more Skype calls before the camp starts (which is in 2.5 weeks, right now).

Also during the period, we book our flights (I'll be doing a layover in Munich when I arrive, and one in Frankfurt when I depart), we fill out bank information (so they can reimburse us for our travel expenses such as traveling to and from the airport), and fill out personal information so they can contact us later on and prepare for our stay for the camp. From what I can tell, we will be staying at the Sannas Manor, which looks absolutely lovely!

You can negotiate your flights, if you have too. Also, some of the finalists are planning to stay for an extended period in Finland or in another country after the camp. We fill out permission slips, that mark if we are doing that or not. I know some people are planning to go to Germany or go to Stockholm (via Ferry). Anyways, if you're into that, you can talk about that with the flight people. They won't pay for your accommodations if you choose to pursue this option, but they pay for your flight from camp to the destination of the country you travel to afterwards, but that's it.

That's all I can remember for now! Comment for questions. 2.5 more weeks till the real fun begins!

-Akila Prayaga