Here is the full transcript and summary of NBC News journalist Mariana Atencio’s TEDx Talk presentation: What Makes You Special? at TEDxUniversityofNevada conference. This event occurred on January 21, 2017.
Listen to the MP3 Audio:
TRANSCRIPT:
Thank you so much.
I am a journalist. My job is to talk to people from all walks of life, all over the world. Today I want to tell you why I decided to do this with my life and what I’ve learned.
My story begins in Caracas, Venezuela in South America where I grew up, a place that to me was and always will be filled with magic and wonder. From a very young age, my parents wanted me to have a wider view of the world.
I remember one time when I was around seven years old, my dad came up to me and said: “Mariana, I’m going to send you and your little sister, who was six at the time, to a place where nobody speaks Spanish. I want you to experience different cultures.”
He went on and on about the benefits of spending an entire summer in ‘this summer camp’ in the United States. Stressing a little phrase that I didn’t pay too much attention to at the time, ‘you never know what the future holds’.
Meanwhile in my seven-year-old mind, I was thinking we were going to get to summer camp in Miami. Maybe it was going to be even better and we were going to go a little further north to Orlando where Mickey Mouse lived. I got really excited.
My dad, however, had a slightly different plan: from Caracas he sent us to Brainerd, Minnesota. Mickey Mouse was not up there and with no cell phone, no Snapchat or Instagram, I couldn’t look up any information.
Meanwhile this is what we looked like. The first night, the camp director gathered everyone around the campfire and said: “Kids, we have a very international camp this year. The Atencios are here from Venezuela.”
The other kids looked at us as if we are from another planet. They would ask us things like: “Do you know what a hamburger is, or do you go to school in a donkey or canoe?” I would try to answer in my broken English, and they would just laugh.
And I know they were not trying to be mean; they were just trying to understand who we were and make a correlation with the world they knew. We could either be like them or like characters out of a book filled with adventures like Aladdin or The Jungle Book. We certainly didn’t look like them; we didn’t speak their language. We were different. And when you’re seven years old, that hurts.
But I had my little sister to take care of and she cried every day at summer camp. So I decided to put on a brave face and embrace everything I could about the American way of life. We later did what we called the summer camp experiment for eight years in different cities that many Americans haven’t even heard of. What I remember most about these moments was when I finally clicked with someone, making a friend was a special reward. Everybody wants to feel valued and accepted and we think it should happen spontaneously. But it doesn’t.
When you’re different you have to work at belonging. You have to be either really helpful, smart, funny, anything to be cool for the crowd you want to hang out with. Later on when I was in high school, my dad expanded on his summer plan and from Caracas he sent me to Wallingford, Connecticut for senior year of high school. This time I remember daydreaming on the plane about the American high school experience with a locker. It was going to be perfect just like in my favorite TV show: Saved by the Bell.
I get there and they tell me that my assigned roommate is eagerly waiting. I opened the door and there she was sitting on the bed with a headscarf. Her name was Fatima and she was Muslim from Bahrain and she was not what I expected. She probably sensed my disappointment when I looked at her because I didn’t do too much to hide it.
See, as a teenager I wanted to fit in even more, I wanted to be popular, maybe have a boyfriend for prom. And I felt that Fatima just got in the way with her shyness and her strict dress code.
I didn’t realize that I was making her feel like the kids at summer camp made me feel. This was the high school equivalent of asking her: do you know what a hamburger is?
I was consumed by my own selfishness and unable to put myself in her shoes. I have to be honest with you, we only lasted a couple of months together, because she was later sent to live with a counselor instead of other students.
And I remember thinking: ah, she’ll be okay, she’s just different. You see, when we label someone as different it dehumanizes them in a way. They become the other. They’re not worthy of our time, not our problem and in fact, they, the other, are probably the cause of our problems.
So how do we recognize our blind spots? It begins by understanding what makes you different, by embracing those traits. Only then can you begin to appreciate what makes other special.
And I remember when this hit me, it was a couple months after that I had found out boyfriend for prom and made a group of friends and practically forgotten about Fatima, until everybody signed on to participate in this talent show for charity. You needed to offer a talent for auction and it seemed like everybody had something special to offer.
Some kids were going to play the violin, others were going to recite a theater monologue. And I remember thinking we don’t practice talents like these back home. But I was determined to find something value.
So the day the talent show comes and I get up onstage with my little boom box and put it on the side and I press play and a song by my favorite emerging artist Shakira comes up and I go: ‘whenever, wherever, we’re meant to be together’. And I said my name is Mariana and I’m going to auction a dance class and it seems like the whole school raised their hand to bid. My dance class really stood out from like the tenth violin class offer that day.
And going back to my dorm room, I didn’t feel different, I felt really special. And that’s when I started thinking about Fatima, a person that I had failed to see as special when I first met her. She was from the Middle East, just like Shakira’s family was from the Middle East, she could have probably taught me a thing or two about belly dancing had I been opened to it.
Now I want you all to take that sticker that was given to you at the beginning of our session today where you wrote down what makes you special. And I want you to look at it. If you’re watching at home, take a piece of paper and write down what makes you different. You may feel guarded when you look at it, maybe even a little ashamed, maybe even proud. But you need to begin to embrace it. Remember it is the first step in appreciating what makes other special.
When I went back home to Venezuela, I began to understand how these experiences were changing me, being able to speak different languages, to navigate all these different people and places. It gave me a unique sensibility. I was finally beginning to understand the importance of putting myself in other people’s shoes. And that is a big part of the reason why I decided to become a journalist, especially being from part of the world that is often labeled the backyard, the illegal aliens, third-world, the others, I wanted to do something to change that.
It was right around the time, however, when the Venezuelan government shut down the biggest television station in our country. Censorship was growing and my dad came up to me once again and said: “How are you going to be a journalist here? You have to leave.” And that’s when it hit me. That’s what he had been preparing me for. That is what the future held for me.
So in 2008, I packed my bags and I came to the United States without a return ticket this time. I was painfully aware that a 24 years old I was becoming a refugee of sorts, an immigrant, the other, once again and now for good. I was able to come on a scholarship to study journalism and I remember when they gave me my first assignment to cover the historic election of President Barack Obama, and I felt so lucky, so hopeful. I was like yes this is it. I’ve come to post-racial America where the notion of us and them is being eroded and will probably be eradicated in my lifetime. Boy, was I wrong, right?
Why didn’t Barack Obama’s presidency alleviate racial tensions in our country? Why do some people still feel threatened by immigrants, LGBTQ and minority groups who are just trying to find a space in this United States that should be for all of us? I didn’t have the answers back then.
But on November 8, 2016 when Donald Trump became our president, it became clear that a large part of the electorate sees them as the others, some see people coming to take their jobs or potential terrorists who speak a different language. Meanwhile minority groups often times just see hatred, intolerance and narrow-mindedness on the other side.
It’s like we’re stuck in these bubbles that nobody wants to burst. And the only way to do it, the only way to get out of it is to realize that being different also means thinking differently. It takes courage to show respect. In the words of Voltaire: “I may not agree with what you have to say but I will fight to the death to defend your right to say it.”
Failing to see anything good on the other side makes a dialogue impossible. Without a dialogue we will keep repeating the same mistakes because we will not learn anything note. I covered the 2016 election for NBC News. It was my first big assignment in this mainstream network where I had crossed over from Spanish television and I wanted to do something different. I watched election results with undocumented families, few thought of sharing that moment with people who weren’t citizens but actually stood the most to lose that night.
When it became apparent that Donald Trump was winning, this eight-year-old girl named Angelina rushed up to me in tears. She saw sobbed and she asked me if her mom was going to be deported now. I hugged her back and I said it’s going to be OK. But I really didn’t know.
This was the photo that we took that night forever ingrained in my heart. Here was this little girl who was around the same age I was when I went to camp in Brainerd. She already knows she is the other. She walks home from school in fear every day her mom can be taken away.
So how do we put ourselves in Angelina shoes? How do we make her understand she is special and not simply unworthy of having her family together? By giving camera time to her and families like hers, I tried to make people see them as human beings and not simply illegal aliens. Yes, they broke a law and they should pay a penalty for it but they’ve also given everything for this country, like many other immigrants before them have.
I’ve already told you how my path to personal growth started. To end I want to tell you how I hit the worst bump in the road yet, one that shook me to my very core. The day, April 10, 2014, I was driving to the studio and I got a call from my parents: or you want the air, they asked. I immediately knew something was wrong.
“What happened?” I said.
“It’s your sister; she’s been in a car accident.”
It was as if my heart stopped. My hands gripped to the steering wheel and I remember hearing the words: ‘it is unlikely she will ever walk again’. They say your life can change in a split second; mine did at that moment. My sister went from being my successful other half, only a year apart in age to not being able to move her legs, sit up or get dressed by herself. And this wasn’t like summer camp where I could magically make it better. This was terrifying.
Throughout the course of two years, my sister underwent 15 surgeries and she spent most of that time in a wheelchair. But that wasn’t even the worst of it. The worst was something so painful it’s hard to put into words even now. It was the way people looked at her, looked at us changed. People were unable to see a successful lawyer or a millennial with a sharp wit and a kind heart, everywhere we went I realized that people just saw poor girl in a wheelchair. They were unable to see anything beyond that.
After fighting like a warrior, I can thankfully tell you that today my sister is walking and has recovered beyond anyone’s expectations. Thank you.
But during that traumatic ordeal, I learned there are differences that simply suck and it’s hard to find positive in them. My sister’s not better off because of what happened but she taught me you can’t let those differences define you, being able to reimagine yourself beyond what other people see, that is the toughest task of all but it’s also the most beautiful.
You see, we all come to this world in a body, people with physical or neurological difficulties, environmentally impacted communities, immigrants, boys, girls, boys who want to dress as girls, girls with veils, women who have been sexually assaulted, athletes who bend their knee as a sign of protest, black, white, Asian, Native American, my sister, you or me — we all want what everyone wants: to dream and to achieve.
But sometimes society tells us and we tell ourselves we don’t fit the mold. Well if you look at my story from being born somewhere different to belly dancing in high school to telling stories, you wouldn’t normally see on TV. What makes me different is what has made me stand out and be successful. I have traveled the world and talked to people from all walks of life and you know what I’ve learned: the single thing every one of us has in common is being human. So take a stand to defend your race, the human race. Let’s appeal to it, let’s be humanists before and after everything else.
To end, I want you to take that sticker, that piece of paper where you wrote down what makes you different and I want you to celebrate it today and everyday, shout it from the rooftops. I also encourage you to be curious and ask what is on other people’s pieces of paper? What makes them different? Let’s celebrate those imperfections that make us special.
I hope that it teaches you that nobody has a claim on the word normal. We are all different, we are all quirky and unique and that is what makes us wonderfully human.
Thank you so much.
Want a summary of this talk? Here it is.
SUMMARY:
In her inspirational talk, Mariana Atencio shares her personal journey and the valuable lessons she has learned about the significance of embracing differences, fostering empathy, and celebrating human uniqueness. Here is a summary of the key points from her speech:
1. Childhood Experiences in Venezuela: Mariana grew up in Venezuela, where her parents instilled in her a curiosity about the world. She recalls an early experience when her father sent her and her sister to a summer camp in the United States, marking the beginning of her exposure to different cultures.
2. Feeling Different: At the summer camp in Minnesota, Mariana and her sister stood out due to their appearance and language. They felt like outsiders as other kids asked them stereotypical questions, reinforcing the feeling of being different.
3. The Struggle to Belong: Mariana discusses the challenge of trying to fit in and make friends when one is perceived as different. She emphasizes the effort required to connect with others and the importance of finding common ground.
4. Embracing Uniqueness: Mariana’s experiences led her to appreciate her own uniqueness and recognize the value in what makes each person special. She encourages the audience to do the same, emphasizing that differences should be celebrated, not hidden.
5. Changing Perspectives: As she pursued a career in journalism, Mariana encountered diverse individuals and stories, which broadened her perspective. She learned the importance of seeing the humanity in others and moving beyond stereotypes and labels.
6. The Power of Dialogue and Empathy: Mariana urges the audience to engage in dialogue with people who are different from them. She emphasizes the need to empathize with others and understand their perspectives, quoting Voltaire: “I may not agree with what you have to say, but I will fight to the death to defend your right to say it.”
7. Personal Growth and Career Choice: Mariana’s experiences motivated her to become a journalist, with a mission to challenge stereotypes and give a voice to marginalized communities. She shares her journey from Venezuela to the United States in pursuit of this calling.
8. The Call for Humanism: Mariana concludes by calling for humanism, urging the audience to celebrate their uniqueness and recognize the commonality of being human. She emphasizes that nobody has a claim on the word “normal” and that diversity and imperfections are what make us wonderfully human.
Mariana’s talk serves as a powerful reminder of the importance of empathy, understanding, and appreciating the differences that make each person special. Her personal journey from feeling like an outsider to embracing her uniqueness and using her career to challenge stereotypes serves as an inspiring example for all to follow.
Resources for Further Reading:
Neil Pasricha: The 3 A’s of Awesome at TEDxToronto (Full Transcript)
Julien S. Bourrelle: How Culture Drives Behaviours at TEDxTrondheim (Transcript)
The Unstoppable Power of Letting Go: Jill Sherer Murray (Full Transcript)
Failing Upwards: Science Learns by Making Mistakes by Phil Plait (Transcript)
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