Celebrating the 10th Anniversary of World Youth Skills Day with Adam Hamid
Jul 15
4 min read
0
36
On the 10th anniversary of World Youth Skills Day, we want to introduce you to Adam, a young innovator. His experience in a design challenge highlights the lifelong value of youth skills, teamwork, and confidence.
Understanding World Youth Skills Day
In 2014, the United Nations declared July 15 as World Youth Skills Day. This day is dedicated to highlighting the importance of equipping young people with skills for employment, entrepreneurship, and innovation.
Now, in 2025, we are celebrating the 10th Anniversary of World Youth Skills Day. This milestone marks a decade of initiatives aimed at empowering youth worldwide.
To commemorate this occasion, we had a Q&A session with Adam Hamid. He is a sixth form student and the award winner of the Design & Make Challenge. This challenge was organised by the Manufacturing Assembly Network (MAN) Group in collaboration with the University of Warwick.
Adam’s story serves as a powerful reminder that developing skills like teamwork, confidence, and leadership is essential for every young person’s journey.
Q: Can you give us a quick introduction about yourself and the project you worked on?
A: Hello, my name is Adam. I attend Ernesford Grange Community Academy for sixth form. I study maths, further maths, and physics. I was one of four team members who won an award for having the best vehicle design for manufacturing. Our design aimed to solve the challenge we were given, focusing on creating a product that could be efficiently mass-produced.
Q: What inspired you to join the Design & Make Challenge?
A: I took the Design & Make Challenge as a chance to bond with my sixth form classmates. It also helped strengthen my teamwork skills, especially as I’m preparing to study physics at university. I mastered this skill through continuous brainstorming and careful consideration of each other’s ideas. Despite a few disagreements, we worked through them and came up with the best vehicle design that could realistically be mass-produced for the challenge. Teamwork is a big skill I’ve taken away from this experience.
Q: How was the experience of working with other people towards a common goal?
A: This challenge got me more involved with working alongside people I wasn’t too familiar with. It gave me the confidence to engage in teamwork in situations like lab practicals. In these situations, you often have to work with people you’ve never met before, sometimes from different parts of the country. That’s a scenario I’ll likely face in university and in my career, so this experience really prepared me for that.
Q: Do you believe it’s important for young people to start building skills early on?
A: For me, developing skills like teamwork, listening to others, and aiming high is really important from a young age. It all builds confidence. Confidence is key! Being a good listener when your teacher or peers speak can help you become more sociable as you grow older. When you aim high, it builds the determination to keep going and reach your goals, no matter how hard it gets.
Q: If you could pick a new skill to learn right now, what would it be and why?
A: If I could learn a new skill, it would definitely be Presentation Skills. This connects back to working with people you don’t know, but presenting takes it a step further. You’re speaking in front of tens, hundreds, or even thousands of people you don’t know. That can be way more nerve-wracking than just working with unfamiliar people. Being able to present fluently builds confidence. It helps you speak up and even allows you to give constructive criticism when others are presenting. It also helps you speak confidently in any situation.
10 Reflections from Adam’s Experience for the 10th Anniversary of World Youth Skills Day
As we celebrate the 10th Anniversary of World Youth Skills Day, Adam’s story highlights how experiences like the Design & Make Challenge can transform young people’s perspectives. These experiences teach them teamwork, confidence, and resilience.
# | Key Lesson | Why It Matters |
1 | Teamwork | Essential for solving challenges and achieving goals |
2 | Confidence | Empowers personal and academic growth |
3 | Communication | Builds trust and clarity within a team |
4 | Critical Thinking | Helps tackle real-world problems |
5 | Adaptability | Prepares you for working with diverse groups |
6 | Leadership | Enables you to inspire and guide others |
7 | Creativity | Sparks innovation and new ideas |
8 | Listening | Improves collaboration and understanding |
9 | Goal Setting | Builds perseverance and focus |
10 | Presentation Skills | Boosts public speaking confidence and influence |
The lessons Adam shared show that developing skills early isn’t just about preparing for a career. It’s also about building the character, adaptability, and courage needed to face the future.
As a member of the Manufacturing Assembly Network (MAN) Group, Lister Fluid Power is dedicated to creating more learning opportunities for young people. We aim to help them grow, connect, and thrive for the next decade and beyond.
It’s initiatives like this that bring the true spirit of World Youth Skills Day to life. They inspire the next generation of innovators, leaders, and problem-solvers.
