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