Since May 2008, I've been involved with a youth panel organised by a company called LIVE Futures.

Over the past year or so, I've got to know the people there and demonstrated my interest in politics and world issues (something which only started quite recently, when I took up Politics AS Level). They put me forward to be on the DFID (Department for International Development) Youth Reporters team.

As a Young Reporter, my primary role is to raise awareness amongst people my age about the G20 summit and the events leading up to it. We do this using Facebook, twitter, blogs, etc; things that we all kinda know and trust.

There are nine of us altogether, all aged between 16 and 24. We're using our own voices to give our opinions to the world's leaders and to relate their answers and thoughts back to others.

In politics, young people don't often have a voice and that's something were trying to change. After all, as clichéd as it might sound, we are the future.

Thrown in the deep end

We went to a conference last Monday called Eliminating World Poverty and in the morning my first interview was with Krishnan Guru-Murthy (Channel 4 News presenter). I was basically thrown in at the deep end and had to learn really quickly, but I enjoyed it loads!

I asked him why young people should care and feel involved in world issues and he mentioned my question on stage! After that, EVERYONE knew who we were. That was a really great experience.

Then I spoke to David Miliband (the Foreign Secretary), whose work I know through my AS Levels. He only had three minutes before he had to leave for a conference, but he still answered all my questions.

I hadn't told a lot of people about it, so everyone at school was really shocked when they saw that I'd been tagged in a photo with David Miliband! They're all asking loads of questions about it and seem really positive.

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The summit

The G-20 summit is coming up and we'll be blogging, twittering and facebooking about it, letting people know what's happening there. It's taking place in London and even President Obama is going to be there.

You might remember the G8 summit, which the world's eight most powerful countries attended. This time, for the first time, they're including developing countries to work at getting things like growth, stability, sustainable development and climate change sorted. It's also the first time they're involving young people like me.

My part to play

This experience has totally helped shaped me as a person. Being a part of this has made me realise that I can make a positive change.

I really feel that young people should feel part of the solution; these global issues are everyone's problem. It's easy to feel distanced from these problems because the issues - like for example, climate change - just seem so huge. But being a Young Reporter has really bought them down to earth and made me feel like I have a part to play.

A lot of what I do works well with my studies and otherwise I just have to juggle it. I do this in my spare time. Sometimes it overlaps, but thats when I have to prioritise what's more important, because AS levels are a lot of work!

Get involved

If you're interested in doing something like this, the most important thing to do is gain a lot of work experience; get involved and be proactive. Make sure it's something you're passionate about - there's nothing worse than doing something for the sake of it just to put on your CV. You have to care about it to get anywhere with it.

What does my future hold? Well, I don't know if I want Gordon Brown's job - it might be a bit overwhelming. At the moment I'm about to apply to universities and I'm still trying to figure out what I want to study. There's not one set thing I want to do, but I'm only 16, so there's time to make up my mind.

One thing is for sure though: through my experiences I know I've certainly got a bit of direction, and I know I can make a difference.

Links
More info on the G-20 London summit
London summit Youth Reporters