[Music] who here has a job all right now keep your hands up if you have a job that you love I am a junior in high school which means that I am only one year away from deciding where to go to college and I'm only five years away from deciding what it is that I want to be when I grow up but what should I be I like international relations but a job in politics won't necessarily pay well and elections means that you can lose your job every two to six years I've been told I'd
make a good lawyer or I could always go into business that's a safe option I've been told that a job is not a passion a job is a thing you do from 9:00 to 5:00 for five days a week to make a steady six-figure income for 43 years before retiring to a comfortable retirement plan you should never be miserable in your job but you don't have to love it either no one dreams about being a financial adviser but it pays well so you should consider it this notion of setting aside ambitions for a city salary
haunts many teenagers like myself currently looking for their future dream job but my family has taught me to pursue a job based on what I love I remember the first time I was thinking about what I wanted to be when I grew up when I was in first grade we had a career day where we had to pick a job write about it and draw a little picture and presented to the class you know first great things everyone said they wanted to be a firefighter or a superhero or princess and I said that I wanted
to be a supermodel now my mom and my grandmother were not very pleased because the year before my dream job was to solve global warming and to them supermodel was a bit of a step down from a scientist that you know saves the world but my dad said to them at least she doesn't want to be a model she wants to be a supermodel it was the ambition that he was proud of and that is a message that has stayed with me throughout my childhood when I wanted to be a lawyer a CEO or even
a supermodel my parents told me that I could do it and that is a message that I believe cultivates great adults for example at the Olympics alongside natural ability hard work and dedication these Olympians share one thing in common the affirmation from their families that they are great and that they can do it Chloe Kim the halfpipe gold medalist in snowboarding this year had the affirmation from her father at the age of eight she discovered he realized that she had the ability to go far and snowboarding and did everything he could to help her pursue
that dream there's also Lindsay Vonn the four-time Olympian skier whose grandparents have cheered her on since she hit the slopes but I am NOT an Olympian I've never won any gold medals and said I've had many interests at one point I wanted to be a president the next a superspy so my parents couldn't help me grow my interests like in athletes because my interest kept changing what they did instead was consistently encourage me and tell me that I could do it and it hasn't just been my parents it has been my parents and my teachers
and my uncles and my Girl Scout troop leaders and my friends and everyone all have helped me become confident now I'd like to talk about my current interest model United Nations I discovered the club in freshman year and I fell in love with it the real world scenarios problem-solving and bonding among delegates is something not replicated and any other activity before I knew it it was sophomore year and I was one of the leaders of the club then junior year rolled around and I moved to a new state with a new high school and a
new club and January in the Houston area conference and I decided that this this this club and this future was something that I really loved and I wanted to give it my 100% so I went to the conference I did my best and I walked away with an outstanding delegate award now this would be when most people would smile congratulate themselves and wait for next year's conference but I wanted more I didn't want more Awards per se I wanted to keep doing this thing that I thought was so fun so I went online and I
found another conference the national high school conference in New York City I told my parents and they encouraged me to apply we hopped on a plane using every penny of my birthday bank account savings and I spent four days in New York City representing Yemen and the economics and Finance Committee debating crypto currencies fun right I'm also going this summer to China for a Model UN program as part of a special program for passionate delegates and I hope to take my love of this club and expand my school's program next year for other students to
share the interest I have found what I think is my passion but without the help of my parents I would not have been able to make the achievements I have for them to encourage me to step beyond my comfort zone and risk everything it's something that I have learned because of their encouragement and it all started with me wanting to be a supermodel you see I might not have become a supermodel not yet anyways and said I have found new interests that excite me even more but the message that yes you can that started when
I was a first grader has followed me with each and every new ambition I take upon myself here I have some Barbies let's pretend that the Barbies are me at one point I wanted to be environmental scientist Barbie the next it was supermodel Barbie then it was CEO Barbie then ski-jumper Barbie and diplomat Barbie and so forth and so forth but in the end despite those career differences those are all Barbies and despite my different aspirations I am all me my dream careers have changed but what has stayed with me is when my parents have
encouraged me that I can achieve what I set my mind to looking into the future I do not know what I will be it could be a ski jumper or a politician but it could very well change what matters in the future is that I love what I'm doing and with the help of my parents I know that if I set my mind to a goal I have all the ability to achieve it now I'd like to go back to my initial question who here loves their job and my message to all of you is
let's encourage the next generation to love theirs to not only have a job but to love their job to do this we must teach them to be ambitious for ambitious minds create success and imagine if we can expel this passion and to each and every person undoubtedly our future generation will change the world for the better with the drive that comes from doing what you love and for me that is a world that I want to live in [Applause] [Music] [Applause] [Music] you
