It is officially 2015! Happy New Year! At the beginning of a new year, we all start thinking about the things we did in the past year. I have been reminiscing about my year and if I may say so myself – I had a really GREAT year.
I’ve chosen 5 events of the past year that I would like to share as the things that made my 2014 epic.
1. We Day
Looking back at We Day 2014, it covers 2 seasons – The 2013/2014 season when I shared Malala’s story on the We Day stage AND We Day 2014/2015, when co-hosted the Social Empowerment Class with Shawn Desman and we talked about bullying and Pink Shirt Day.
I was so honoured to speak about one of my biggest role models, Malala Yousafzai. I shared her story and how she has inspired so many people to believe that their voice matters and that every child, especially girls, has the right to an education. I also spoke about how I related to Malala because we both use our words to express our passion and we both hope to inspire others.
I also had the chance to spend a lot of time during the We Day season with Martin Luther King III – Dr. Martin Luther King Jr’s son. It was the 50th anniversary of when Dr. Martin Luther King Jr. marched on Washington and made his “I Have A Dream” speech. At the Educational Partners Breakfast, the morning of We Day which I and Martin Luther King III spoke at, he always shared a quote that I will never forget. Horace Mann said, “Be ashamed to die until you have won a victory for humanity” Mr. King went on to explain what this meant to him. Some of us will win victories in our communities. Some of us will win victories in our cities. Some of us will win victories in our province. Some can win victories in our countries. And some may even win victories for our world. In other words, be ashamed to die until you have done a little something to make the world better than it was before you arrived. I have thought about this many times over the past year.
I also had an amazing We Day season this past fall. My co-host, Shawn Desman, and I spoke about bullying, which is something that I feel very strongly about. So many of my peers have had to deal with bullying. Shawn and I told the story of Pink Shirt Day. It started with two boys helping a Grade 9 student who was bullied by rallying the whole school together to show him that he wasn’t alone. I had the chance to meet the founder of Pink Shirt Day, Travis Price and I’m really proud to call Travis my friend. He is so motivating because he is a great example of how an idea can turn into something that creates huge and meaningful change. Pink Shirt Day is on February 25 and is celebrated all over the world as a stand against bullying.
As we travelled across Canada for We Day, I got to hang out with motivational speaker, HIV and AIDS advocate, Ashley Murphy. She talks about how we can turn our weaknesses into strengths and rock our differences. She is an amazing person and I was so honoured to spend so much time with her. It was amazing to work with Shawn Desman through the whole season. He sings and speaks with so much passion and he is a great guy. We had a lot of fun together and he was a pretty great co-host to have.
One of the events that I spoke at this year was called the Evening Of Champions. Every We Day, 100-200 youth who have done REALLY great things and have travelled far for We Day for an event with speakers, food and lots of fun! At every Evening Of Champions, I met so many amazing and inspiring youth who have done things like building 3 schools in a developing community, having a Me To We club at school or cycling the distance of the world to raise awareness for clean water. My favourite We Day this year was was in Halifax because I met an awesome group of high school students who had traveled from Fredericton, New Brunswick to be there. We went out for dinner with them and their teachers and I learned that they participated in We Scare Hunger, raised money with Rafikis, sent gifts to Pakistani children in Orphanages and raised $500 dollars to give goats to people in developing communities! Students like that inspire me so much to believe that I am not alone in wanting to make a difference.
BIG thank you to Marc and Craig Kielburger, the We Day team (especially Lena and Jill), Free The Children, and the many partners, sponsors and volunteers all over Canada thank make We Day happen.
2. We Create Change Tour
After National We Day Ottawa in April, I left for the most epic journey – the We Create Change Tour along with Spencer West and Neverest. For 10 weeks, we travelled in our own tour bus across the country – from Newfoundland to British Columbia. We went to 90 schools that have taken action with Free The Children and some of them hadn’t gotten a chance to go to any of the We Days, so we would bring one to them. It was the Year Of Education for Free The Children and students all over Canada were working to raise money to build a school for people in developing communities. Spencer, Neverest and I were not there to just motivate the students, we were also there to thank them and celebrate their amazing achievements.
Like We Day, I had the chance to meet students that had built schools and wells, a student that had climbed the Calgary tower to raise awareness for education and kids who had mobilized their community in so many to make a difference locally and globally. I am and always will be in awe of these students and I cannot wait to see what they do next! Thank you to the incredible teachers and students who made the We Create Change Tour happen and thank you for making a difference whether it is on the other side of the world or closer to home.
3. FaceTime with Malala Yousafzai
As you know, at We Day I spoke about Malala and I continued to be inspired by her throughout the year. My Mom and I woke up at 4:30 in the morning to watch her speak at the very first We Day in the UK and when she won the Nobel Peace Prize, I was so happy I cheered and might have cried for a minute. At We Day in Toronto I had met someone who worked very closely with Malala and her organization, The Malala Fund. A few weeks later I received an email from him and told me that he wanted to connect me and Malala face to face. For real. he gave me the opportunity to FaceTime with Malala and her dad, Ziauddin! I was so excited!
A few weeks later it was all arranged. My mom’s cell phone rang and when Malala’s dad, Ziauddin came up on the screen for FaceTime with, it was definitely surreal. He and I spoke for a few minutes. He told me that he watched a video from We Day when I spoke about Malala and said that he cried. He said that he was very proud of me. Then he said these words “I am not going to be a wall between you and your sister, Malala,” and then there she was. Amazing. Malala and I talked for about 15 minutes – we talked about school, music and about what we are going to be when we grow up. Malala told me that she wants to be a Politician, support her society and support girls’ education all around the world. She said that we have similar dreams. And it is true. We both want to be politicians or activists so that we can help people and create meaningful change.
It was an incredible thing to be speaking to her – I was conversation with the woman that I thought about everyday, the woman that had just won the Nobel Peace Prize, the women that has inspired us all. I asked her how she feels about being called “The Girl Who Got Shot By The Taliban”. I wondered if she thought that it is time to move on from that title and be called “The Girl Who Stands Up For Education and Freedom”? She said that after the “incident”, she saw so many people sending her positive messages and gifts and it lifted her up and made her strong. She said that she is taking action and is helping refugee centers, her Nigerian sisters and is supporting the right to education all over the world. Malala knows that it was an event in her life, she hopes that people will call her “The Girl Who Fought For Education”.
We also talked about Kenya and her recent trip there with Craig and Free The Children. I told her that I am excited to go Kenya one day soon. I told her that my parents aren’t ready for me to go by myself yet and she was funny and said that her father won’t let her go by herself either. She joked and said that when she is 18 he will let her go and maybe my parents will let me go with her. That would awesome. Malala will probably be the the only Nobel Peace Prize winner that I have FaceTimed with.
4. Parliament
At my school, we have a Student Council, otherwise known as Parliament. In September there was an election in each class for someone to represent their class in Parliament. For the election, we had to present a speech about what we can do for our school and our class. I had signed up to be a candidate. In my speech, I said that I would listen to all my classmates and try to get what they want and need. We all did a vote for the candidates and I won! I was really excited and proud.
At the first meeting for Parliament, there was said to be another election! There was a Prime Minister (only for grade 8 student) and a Deputy Prime Minister – a position open to all grades. The Prime Minister and Deputy Prime Minister work together and are the leaders and help supervise and make the decisions. For the role of Deputy Prime Minister, I ran again. This time, I talked about community. We are all a school community and when we work together as a team, we can do anything. The next morning, they announced the Prime Minister and Deputy Prime Minister. They had announced that I was the Deputy Prime Minister!
This year, Parliament has already oraganized We Scare Hunger and is working towards building a school in a developing community. We have already raised $3, 500 with different events and activities! Now I am currently working on Pink Shirt Day at our school because that is an event that advocates bullying and mobilizes the school to act as a community.
5. My Year Of Action
This year I launched a campaign on my blog called My Year Of Action. It is all about finding your passion, finding your community and turning that into action. In the campaign, after you find your spark, I would help you find out how to inspire others to join you and how to help the cause you care about. I’ll be working on this throughout the year and you can join me. I would love that. You know what? It’s a perfect way to start the New Year and make taking action one of your resolutions. Start your year off by thinking about what you can do to make a difference and create change for someone or something that needs it.
You can download the pledge and take it for YOUR Year of Action here.
That was the best events for me of 2014! Phew. What a year. So, what made your 2014 awesome? Let me know in the comment section below! I would love to know what moments made it special for you!
Wishing you a Happy New Year and hopes for an awesome 2015!
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