Stop Asking Me What do You Want to be When You Grow Up
one of my least
favorite questions to be asked by an
adult is
what do you want to be when you grow up
now as a kid
i wanted to be a broadway star
performing on the stages of new york
city
with my name in marquee lights
however after that moment i’ve had my
fair share of career options
broadway star evolved into architect
which evolved into interior designer
which evolved into lawyer and the list
goes on and on and on however
at this moment as i’m getting ready to
apply to universities
i’m still struggling to find the real
answer to what i
really want to be when i grow up and for
me the struggle filters down to
finding out what that what is and when
that
when will come it’s this idea ingrained
within youths and adolescence
this idea of dreaming big about the
great disruptions that we can create
but only in the future now
i can definitively tell you that you’re
asking
the wrong question good evening
my name is todd ahmad yakun and i’m here
to propose to you
two new questions i want you to ask me
who are you and how can you leave your
mark
this question eliminates the uncertainty
of the future
instead it empowers us to think of the
person we are and the things that we can
do now
and that despite the current absence of
a diploma our voices and our actions
contain multitudes and this starts all
the way back with basic interactions
that adults have with children
early childhood australia a non-profit
organization that advocates for the care
well-being and education of young
children states that in order to empower
youths
we must provide them with opportunities
to engage with their world in a
meaningful way
they state that when youths are solving
a problem or exploring an issue
and see their thoughts ideas and
opinions
embedded into the solution they learn
that they have a voice
and that the voice they have is powerful
and we can see this being implemented in
today’s society
rachel peterson the regional director
for save the children one of the world’s
largest children’s rights organization
who had lived and worked in norway
talked about the country’s simple steps
to youth empowerment
now in norway there’s a children’s news
program where global news is shared in a
child friendly manner
children also have the opportunity to
meet with politicians and have a q a
session with them
and in one case there was even a
building project
where the city planners along with the
architects worked with the local
children and asked to hear their input
they were invited to do a little mapping
project and they were asked to show what
that area meant to them
and in the end the children identified
places on the map that were not on
any city official maps such as hidden
trails used as shortcuts to go to school
or hills used for sledding
and although these features were such
small details
the city planners adjusted their plans
to keep those areas
although in norway the whole country
magnifies the voices society deems as
the softest
sometimes it takes just one person
here’s a story i’m sure many of you are
familiar with
malala yousafzai a pakistani activist
for women’s right to education
grew up in an area where talibans were
banning her and other young girls from
their right to education
however it was her father
who empowered her to education empowered
her
to speak in public venues and to write
for the bbc as a way of fighting for her
rights to education
and through those actions she then
empowered other young girls
to their right to education in his ted
talk
zuwad and yusuf sai malala’s father
states that when people ask him what was
so special about his mentorship
the me malala the person she is today he
simply replies
don’t ask me what i did ask me what i
did not do
i did not clip her wings and that’s all
yet nava galilei a researcher and an
emmy nominated journalist
who studies youth behavior in action
compares malala to another group of
youths in one of her presentations
the youths that she compared malala to
were not any less educated and not any
poor than malala is either
but they chose to leave their homes and
join a group
that the world deems as one of the
greatest threats of our lifetime
isis so what’s the difference
why do we have youths who are so similar
yet chose such different pathways
galilee states that youths like malala
are empowered to see their spiritual
attributes
to see their nobility and to see their
worth
they’re provided with opportunities to
contribute to society to fulfill that
longing that
every youth has to make an impact
on the other hand these youths
felt like they couldn’t contribute to
society
and so isis targets these youths
exploits their longing to create an
impact
tells them that they can move the world
that they can create ripples far and
wide if they join them
and that’s a waste of potential
a waste of potential of youths that just
want to leave their mark for the
betterment of society
we youths all have the same desire to
create an impact no matter how big or
small
and it is so vital for parents for
teachers
to help us understand that our voices
are much louder than we think it is
and it starts with young children
encourage them to have a voice
in simple decisions like choosing the
color of their socks or what they want
to eat for breakfast
it shows that their voices are valued
even when it’s soft and quiet
these decisions bring light to the
opportunities that they have to leave
their mark
even when it’s in the smallest forms as
they grow up and as they start to
find their passion start to find their
voice encourage them to use that passion
for good
encourage them to initiate a club
publish a book
run a lemonade stand allow them to
experience the world in which they’re
the author of their own narrative
a world where they’re able to articulate
their concerns and opinions
and lastly but most importantly
listen listen to those concerns and
opinions
listen to what’s most important to us
yes
we may be wrong yes we may lack the
experience and knowledge but yes
it is our courage our enthusiasm and our
passion
that dares us to push the boundaries of
what we as youths can do
and yes these steps are small and simple
but we can do so much more of it
however at this moment we’re living in a
time where youths
are unstoppable here’s greta thundberg
fighting for climate change david hogg
and emma gonzalez
marching for gun control rights east and
la chapelle running a startup that uses
3d printing to build prosthetic arms and
hands
isabel and caroline brecall making 20
million dollars selling bath bombs
the stories of these youth strive with
the question who am i and end with how
can i leave my mark
it starts with a realization that yes i
am young but ends with i have
something so important to say
and these youths aren’t far from our
community
here is emi tamakai-san finishing her
first ever picture book
about adhd which will be placed all over
thai public schools
marisol islam president of project red a
club that works closely with
organizations in thailand
to help raise awareness and support for
girls sanitation
you see the youths
are unstoppable
and so these two questions of who am i
and how i can leave my mark
were the two questions that inspired me
to start profitable social ventures and
to
work with young adolescents and
international schools around bangkok to
help inspire them
and to amplify their voices
as we grow up we ourselves define the
marks that we leave
no matter how big or small these two
questions that i’m proposing
are timeless ones they’re ongoing
questions
that can be asked over and over and over
again
by parents by teachers and one
that we can continue to ask ourselves
so for the youths in the audience stop
wondering what you want to be when you
grow up
instead here are two new questions for
everyone
who are you and how can you leave
your mark thank you