Three events in the week we are leaving behind directly influence what I want to express today.
First, on Wednesday I was invited to talk about my failures, at the end of a long day of competition among high school students in Tirana. Al@WorkHakathon organized at the Albanian ICT Academy by the STEM Hub Center with the support of the National Youth Agency, brought together 70 young people in an ideas competition, divided into 13 groups. Of course there were winners, but without dwelling on individual names, my attention stopped at the opportunity that these high school students had to give space to their dreams. To compete, to express themselves, to collaborate, to learn from the failures of others, and by doing these they actually learn more about how to know, express themselves and why not dream the best for them.
The second event was on Thursday. The premiere of the play "Cain and Abel" in the experimental theater hall. Directed by Rafael Hoxhaj, it brought together perhaps a dozen very young artists, while the hall was full of young people. I don't remember when I've seen so many young people in a theater hall. I have so many things I could say about the play, for positive criticism or suggestions on how it could be better, but when the play ended, all I could think about was the emotion of those young people, and the opportunity that Rafael, a young artist in his own right, gave the actors in his play. He cultivated in them the dream of touching the stage, this is the most valuable thing.
And here I stop at the third event. Thanks to a friend's suggestion, I became closely acquainted with the work and attitudes of the Italian psychiatrist Paolo Crepet.
He emphasizes that young people need to be encouraged to make mistakes, to seek and to dream without fear, because only through this freedom can they build their true identity. He considers a society that stifles the imagination of young people, pushing them towards conformity and lack of courage, to be a great danger.
So I want to stop here.
It's not true that young people don't dream anymore.
The truth is that we often don't allow it.
We teach them to be "realistic" very early.
To choose safety over passion.
Don't be mistaken.
Don't waste time.
But how can a dream be born without wasting time? Dreams grow silently, inside a young person who often doesn't yet know their worth.
Cultivating dreams in them is not an emotional "luxury", but a necessity for individual and social development. In a time where uncertainty and social pressures often dampen aspirations, keeping dreams alive becomes an act of resistance and hope.
This week, I witnessed such acts up close...in a technology competition or on the stage of the Experimental Theater, some young people chose not to give up.
They behaved, with uncertainty, yet with courage.
With dreams that seem bigger than the stage itself or the value of an award.
And this is enough to understand something simple: when young people believe, they create.
By creating, they change. Young people don't need perfection, they need space.
If we say that young people lack dreams, it's not their problem. It's our failure. Young people don't ask for much.
Just someone who won't tell them "it can't be done."
Paolo Crepet says that a young person without dreams is an adult who surrenders prematurely.
And our duty is to give our children the space and opportunities to dream.
