Showing posts with label ted talks. Show all posts
TED Talks Tuesdays: My Immigration Story
Today’s Ted
Talk Tuesday is about the immigration story of Tan Le. Tan Le’s talk grabbed my
attention because of her puzzle pieces analogy. She compared each of her family
members and her immigration adventures to a piece of a jigsaw puzzle. Her
story, she said, is not yet finished; it is a one big puzzle that is still
being put together.
What
captivated me the most from her story was how her mother worked two jobs whilst
getting a college degree. I can personally relate to this. Ever since I moved
here to Canada with my family, my mother has always protected and nurtured us. During
my first few days here, it was like being a child again; I had to rely heavily
on my parents. Looking back, I actually think it was a good thing for it strengthened my bond with my parents.
Going back
to Tan Le’s story, she shared their journey to Australia where they had to hide
in a concealed boat to escape her mother’s cruel
life. Her mother brought poison with her, which they were ready to drink
in case their boat got caught. I cannot
possibly imagine myself having the same courage that she had—the courage of
walking in a thin thread, to be ready to jump off a cliff when the situation
begs it.
Tan Le ended
her story by revealing the last piece of her puzzle. As she stabled her life and finished her law
degree, she realized that she could not get a career in law. She thought that
there had to be another piece. Soon enough, she found it. And that is, the realization that is okay to be
an outsider, a recent arrival, new on the scene. She says that it's even “something to be thankful for” because “being an insider can so
easily mean collapsing the horizons, can so easily mean accepting the
presumptions of your province”. Sometimes, it is better when we are in a strange
place. It gives us the chance to grow, be braver and be smarter.
Favourite quote from the talk: “I have stepped outside my comfort zone enough now to know that, yes,
the world does fall apart, but not in the way that you fear.”
TED Talks Tuesdays: My Escape From North Korea
Today's TED Talk is by Hyeonseo Lee, who was born in North Korea. When she was younger, she thought that her country "was the best in the world". However, when she was 14, there was a period of terrible famine in North Korea. To survive, she escaped to China to be in company of her distant relatives.
There, her life was put to danger when she was brought by the Chinese police to a station for interrogation. Since North Korean refugees are considered in China as illegal migrants, she was very close to being imprisoned or repatriated. Thankfully, she was able to answer all the questions calmly and was let go. The years that followed were spent covering her real identity from the Chinese officials. After 10 years of doing this, she decided to take another risk by going to Seoul, South Korea.
There, she greatly struggled to adjust with her new life, confessing that she even experienced identity crisis. As she was trying to cope up with her life in Seoul, she received a call saying that the North Korean authorities intercepted the money that she had sent to her family. You won't believe what happened next..
Watch Hyeonseo Lee tell her riveting story about escape that inspires hope, bravery, and persistence:
TED Talks Tuesdays: The Danger of a Single Story
Every Tuesday, we'll feature a TED Talk that we think could empower and inspire immigrant youth. Today's featured TED Talk is by Chimamanda Ngozi Adichie, who was born and raised in Nigeria. Having written numerous critically-acclaimed books that have started to reshape African literature, she is an inspiration to many.
In this TED Talk, she tells us why paying attention to a single story may cause us harm. Our own cultural lives and the cultural backgrounds of other people influence us everyday in the way we think, feel, and act. Oftentimes, listening to a single story limits us from recognizing that people who come from similar cultural backgrounds do not possess the same exact beliefs, behaviour, and experiences. Single story causes misjudgment and misunderstanding.
As Chimamanda points out, single story can produce stereotypes. And the problem with stereotypes is not that they are false, but that they present an incomplete story.
Trust me when I say that you won't regret spending 19 minutes of your life watching this:
Favourite quote from the talk: "All these stories make me who I am. But to insist on only these negative stories is to flatten my experience and to overlook the many other stories that formed me. The single story creates stereotypes. And the problem with stereotypes is not that they are untrue, but that they are incomplete. They make the single story the only story."
