How to Be a Changemaker of 2021

[Music]

we are living in a time of rebirth and

peril

1.5 billion children out of school the

climate crisis

is not improving here in montreal we’re

in the midst of our second lockdown of

covert 19

and the world is finally acknowledging

this pandemic of systemic racism and

equality and injustice

that just survived and thrive for

hundreds of years to finally be

eradicated

rightfully so it’s so easy to look at

the world around us and be

frustrated and angry yet you know

passionate about a problem that has

affected you personally

for me it was at the age of 13 when i

learned about

my grandfather’s diagnosis of vascular

dementia

i learned that one in three seniors

would be diagnosed with dementia

in their lifetime that’s why in my final

years

at dawson college for my last science or

project i designed this molecular probe

for the early diagnosis and treatment of

alzheimer’s disease

it gave me this sense of change making

and i realized that you know all of us

have this

extraordinary untapped potential that we

hold within

we just need to realize it you know the

world needs you

i need you but lucky for you the world

is in the midst of this

technological expansion from a.i to

nanotechnology

and this increased connectivity amongst

all of us around the world it is so easy

and

people are finally realizing the true

power that they hold within

today i share with you how you too can

become

a change maker of 2021 growing up i was

a

very curious child with a plethora of

questions

i remember visiting my first local

science fair when i was in grade 5

in the south shore of montreal and i

remember seeing these students were just

a few years older than me

working on problems that you know i only

heard on the news

i was immediately inspired and knew this

was definitely something i wanted to be

a part of

not just because that high school that i

was going to

force everyone to do science fairs like

i know many of us in this audience

but it was a way of tackling real world

problems

and just exploring the world and not

being confined to the classroom walls

i started off designing helmets to help

prevent concussions

between grade 9 discovering this

alternative treatment to prostate cancer

in grade 10 i worked on developing this

diagnostic strip to detect bladder

cancer

during its earliest stages i worked on

in grade 11

discovering a part of the brain that’s

responsible for preserving cognitive

function in alzheimer’s disease patients

and how exercise can act as a

non-pharmacological approach

for the neurogenic disease in my last

year of science fairs

in dawson college i designed this

molecular probe for the early diagnosis

and treatment of alzheimer’s disease

that essentially can be injected into a

person’s bloodstream

make its way to the brain and light up

it detects this protein that

is highly present in the disease

pathogenesis

not only that it has the potential to

kind of leave the brain

and go to the rest of the bloodstream

and essentially you can pee out

alzheimer’s disease i was able to

explore the world and

meet amazing like-minded individuals

from across the globe

through these international science

fairs but i realized

what it meant to be a change maker it

meant to align your passions

with your wanting to do good for this

world and that

truly fascinated me doesn’t matter your

age race religion or gender

anyone can have impactful change and

that was just truly incredible

but why is it important to be a change

maker

i believe becoming an agent of change is

the key to happiness

and that to be successful one should

strive to be a change maker

growing up in high school i joined teams

in clubs simply due to the fact that it

brought me joy

by grade nine i was working on science

and projects that got me to the border

testing facilities to hospitals to

national science fairs

but like many other kids who hoped to

one day enter medical school

i became obsessed with you know checking

off these imaginary preconceived boxes

it was in success and being constantly

surrounded by these world-renowned phds

and successful entrepreneurs

that i fell into their ways

i became obsessed and manifested success

by latching on to these random projects

which in turn would make me feel less

inferior

the more successful i became the

medicine security guru as it is directly

proportional

by the time i was in grade 11 graduating

high school i was on six sports teams

and i had a cv that resembled that of a

phd

you know my accomplishments that i’m

proud of were you know fun and all i

pondered greatly of how this affected my

brain chemistry

i won best and for these international

sciences and presented my innovations

across the globe

but it came out wide cause i had

severely drifted away

from what i enjoy doing most and that is

working on solving the world’s most

pressing issues

since then i have internally shifted you

know my definition of success

and that is to work on hard problems

that i’m passionate about which derives

the greatest amount of happiness as a

bride product

you can flirt with the idea of checking

off boxes all you want and do what is

expected of you

or you can just do cool stuff because it

is priceless

to meander in high school and in

university and find what you’re truly

passionate about and then compound that

knowledge for the next

you know 50 60 years instead of

graduating getting

this nice comfy corporate job and

realizing in your 40s that

you know this is not something you want

to do

there is a drastic half-life to an

individual’s ability to take risks

as they age so i urge you all to get

started on your journey of change making

or you can just you know enjoy the rest

of lockdown

now you’re probably thinking wow the

sean guy

better tell me some actionable steps to

be a change maker or

i will riot well i got you i see this as

a three-step

process where when you find a hard

problem that you’re passionate about

two you find who can facilitate this

change

and three communication the first step

is to find a problem you are passionate

about my friend

ellie from kenya one said start with

empathy then learn to speak courage

fluently

this empathy that fuels us and but most

importantly allows for an individual

to make this world the more equitable a

more sustainable place

the second idea is who can you approach

to make our ideas a reality

now you can’t wait for purpose to come

to you because it simply doesn’t come

to people waiting at the starting blocks

so who can we approach

to help facilitate the change we want to

make in the world

i’ve sent hundreds of emails when trying

to get my projects and initiatives off

the ground

most of these being rejections simply

due to the fact of my age or that i

didn’t have a couple extra letters

the end of my name so who can we

approach

the key is to have meaningful

conversations with two types of people

one government officials and two leaders

in the private sector

these types of people have the greatest

exposure to facilitate the change that

you want to make in the world

especially if you’re both passionate

about the same problems

the last step is communication now the

work of good science is not done until

communicated with empathy and compassion

and this is especially the case for

grassroots movements

whether it be designing a diagnosis for

a neurodegenerative diseases or fighting

the plastic pollution in the rivers of

bali

people want to listen to a person who

has access to society in a way others

don’t

and this is when a personal connection

becomes crucial in

not only communicating your ideas but

finding allies and co-travelers

now in the words of maya angelou

people will forget what you said people

will forget what you did

but people will never forget how you

made them feel

these are the three steps that are

primordial in

becoming a change maker of 2021

to kind of put you in the right

direction i urge you all to ask yourself

four questions

firstly what is your kryptonite what are

your shortcomings

what are your biases secondly

who are your allies who are your

co-travelers

who are the people that can complement

your skills and also the skills you

don’t have

thirdly how do i play the game while

trying to change it

and lastly what can i do right now

to start creating what i want in other

words how do i activate

all the levers i can now especially for

the past year

you may feel lost of exactly what you

want to do

or after hearing me you may be confused

of what problem you want to get started

on and that you’re passionate about

now i wouldn’t get too hung up on the

fact of how screwed the world is

but instead i would kind of tell myself

listen things are going to happen

both good and bad and i have a

responsibility to allocate some of the

goodness in my heart to as many people

as possible

and honestly if that scares you just get

started

at the end of the day to be a change

maker means to

be able to inspire others to adapt to

the environment around you

to be the change that you want to see in

the world

and considering how we have all had to

learn to adapt

in the past year deep down you are

already a change maker

us young people are always told that we

are the next generation

we are the future doctors lawyers

activists and engineers

we are the leaders of tomorrow but we do

not need to wait until tomorrow to lead

thank you