Hello hello 
This is Rachna, and I’m still the new kid on the block! I will walk you through what I have done so far in July and August!
After what felt like an epic saga of visa wrangling, I finally joined QUEST Team in-person by mid-June! My first two weeks were a whirlwind, starting with a trip to Bulgaria for the YGBN project, which opened my eyes to outdoor education for marginalized youths.
July brought a bit of calm, allowing me to meet more team members who were finally back from their annual leave. We had our sights set on the biggest event of the year: The International Democratic Education Conference 2025! Preparation started way ahead of time, but by the fourth week of July, we were deep into venue preparations. And let me tell you, this was not like any other conferences that I had taken part in. We were building everything from scratch!
For seven days in August, over 300 participants from around the world came together for 200+ workshops, lively panels, cultural exchanges, and countless meaningful conversations, all rooted in the values of democratic education. I have had a lot of fun doing different things – cooking meals, setting up spaces, and shaping sessions that ranged from youth-led panels and decolonial pedagogy workshops to academic discussions and creative performances. My favorite night was absolutely the talent show and auction night!
After an intense two weeks of preparation and the conference, all of the QUEST Team took one week off to recuperate and we came back stronger than ever!
Looking back on my journey with QUEST so far, I’m filled with gratitude for the experiences I’ve had and the people I’ve met. . Every experience has been a chance to learn and grow, and I’m ready for more adventures! Thanks for reading my blog. Don’t forget to stay tuned for more updates, because I have a feeling this is just the beginning of something fantastic!