are kids ready to learn serve and change
the world what are being held back what
if I told you there are kids ready to
solve major problems like world hunger
and homelessness but are being relegated
to the kiddie table what if I told you
they are kids waiting to drive change
across the globe but nobody trusts them
enough to hand over the steering wheel
I recently embarked on a journey that
was designed to test a simple idea what
if we allow young people to drive their
own learning the results are fascinating
and empowering in a way I have never of
imagined a few months ago I learned
about this amazing opportunity through
one of my mentors for an organization
called grip tape that was seeking
applications from teenagers for their
learning journey the idea was simple but
yet revolutionary grip tape would
sponsor up to $500 to allow a teenager
to embark on their learning journey the
catch was their journey had to be
euthanized to learn about and they
promised to help and support us
throughout the way simple right I of
course did what most teenagers do who’ve
never been given the keys to their own
learning I asked for the rules and
regulations what types of areas am I
allowed to study for my learning journey
can it be academic what if what I want
to learn doesn’t cost anything what if
it costs more than $500 can I enroll in
a class can it be a project and the
answers to all my questions were the
same and it was absolutely refreshing
you decide you are in charge now
if you haven’t been in a traditional
school
a while you may not understand why this
is so revolutionary let me take you
through a teenager’s typical experience
in the schooling system or dare I say
school assembly line we wake up in the
morning and we’re told when and where to
learn here go to this big factory
looking thing because that’s where
learning happens you start school at
7:30 you end at 2:00 then you must learn
in 90 minute intervals or block
scheduling then you must go to school
180 days out of the year and don’t ask
why because this is how it’s been done
for decades
we are told what to learn you must learn
these subjects in these quantities and
these frequencies who cares that you
spend your evenings writing poetry or
coding that’s not on the menu here we
have an abundance of academic solids
like math English social studies and
science and if you want to get fancy you
we are told how to learn you must learn
using these textbooks and these handouts
then you must sit in your desk all day
and take notes using a certain
note-taking method or graphic organizer
and you’re not allowed to work in groups
unless of course I tell you to do so
because it’s a group project then we’re
told how to know we learn here take this
test to make sure you learned what we
wanted you to learn when we wanted you
to learn it and how we wanted you to
learn it if this sounds bleak it is
because it is if it sounds disempowering
it is because it simply is in these
settings where young people should be
driven to learn creates reflect and
apply we’re just sitting as passengers
waiting and wondering are we there yet
and that’s why I threw my griptape
experience I was given the keys to my
own learning and the mentors hold
willing to help support me get there my
idea for my griptape experience was to
get a deeper understanding of the root
causes of homelessness and the reason
for this is because I realized that
deeper you got into the inner city the
more prevalent homelessness became and I
wondered why so I decided to explore
this through surveys and a homeless
banquet before jumping into this I did
not know how intense this experience was
going to be I was constantly calling
local organizations in hopes to seeking
some assistance while Doug Lee my junior
year of sight is a commitments and
finding time to visit venues to find the
perfect place to host my event and I had
to organize people to help support me
accomplish my event my journey was not
without his challenges I received a lot
of rejection as I contacted
organizations but I still managed to
make it fun by bringing my friends along
for the journey and meeting new people
and contacts which reminded and incur
to me how many people want to see young
people succeed one of my favorite
memories on my learning journey was a
time I drove around visiting religious
institutions I decided to visit my local
Jewish Community Center and before that
I had never stepped foot in a Jewish
Community Center before and I had no
clue on what to expect but as soon as I
entered I was escorted to see the rabbi
we were having a lovely discussion as
they handed him my Flyers he noticed
that I misspelled perishables wrong and
it was an embarrassing moment but he
still managed to be encouraged to help
me in my cause right before I was going
to leave he invited me to go to his
interfaith banquet I said yes I’ll
attend but I was so nervous and during
the event I went table to table handing
out flyers and pitching out my idea and
I had an amazing time if I would have
stayed in comfort zone I wouldn’t have
made any progress
I wouldn’t receive all those donations I
did that night and most importantly I
wouldn’t have grown as a person not only
did I make it banquet to feed the
homeless I conducted a study to get a
deeper understanding of homelessness but
to top it off I realized I was capable
of so much more and my peers are capable
of so much more
but many never realize that due to how
society expects so little from us most
of our lives even ask questions such as
what do you want to be when you grow up
or what colleges do you want to go to
but the main theme of all these
questions are that they consist of
something in the future
why don’t we ask in people questions
such as what do you want what life
dreams are you pursuing in the present
what are you doing now to leave your
market society and what are you learning
that keeps you inspired and hungry for
more if you look around there are so
many examples of young people who
decided that their age was only a number
mary grace henry only 12 at the time
decided to sell reversible headband
and sold them to her local bookstore and
took a hundred percent of the proceeds
to fund a girls education in Africa
she took a simple idea of reversible
headbands and made it into something
impactful also seventeen-year-old yeah
scripta one day broke his glasses and
realized how much he depended on them
and couldn’t imagine other kids
suffering due to not having glasses so
he sold he took use ones and gave them
two kids with poor eyesight these young
people took small actions and made it
into something impactful so I challenged
my peers to go out there and try
something you’ve always wanted to try
learn what you want to learn when you
want to learn and how you want to learn
it meet new people outside of your
normal circle of friends allow yourself
to go into a tree with branches that
sprout out in different directions
diversifying your experiences is the
only way you can broaden your mind now
we live in a time that’s facing many
challenges from the environment to
education to crime to healthcare where
our voices as young people need to be
heard more than ever I cannot wait to
see the possibilities when we give the
keys so young people can drive their own
learning and most importantly make
change if you haven’t got anything out
of this talk today I want you to
remember one thing regardless of your
age whether you are young or old but
especially if you are young remember
that your age is nothing but a number
when it comes to making change so go out
there and start your journey to make
change you