[Music]
when you walked in today you sat down
did you say hi to the person next to you
did you ask them how they were I imagine
for many of you the answer is probably
no and today’s day and age approaching a
stranger and saying hi to them can feel
a little bit like asking them for their
firstborn child and I felt that and
that’s why as my senior project I
decided to set a goal for myself before
I left high school I want him to talk to
every single person in my high school
community teachers students kitchen
staff everyone I ended up having 237
conversations 15 minutes each and here’s
why I did it and here’s what I learned
you see we don’t talk to strangers we
live in times characterized by an
obsession with instant gratification
plotting our next steps
connecting often online and look I’m not
here to hate on social media I love
social medias next as much as the next
person the connections that I formed on
the internet online have benefited me so
profoundly and I’ve benefited Society so
profoundly but there is something to be
said about the fact that there are
people that I follow on Instagram
snapchat etc and I learn intimate
details about their life basically
everything and I see those same people
in town some of them where I live I see
them in person and I want to ask them
how are those red velvet pancakes
you had 2.75 hours ago but instead I
keep walking
as if I don’t know them I don’t even say
hi because there’s a whole category for
many of us a friends that are only for
social media it’s fine to know their
secrets their truths they are
performative selves but it’s not cool
it’s uncomfortable it’s awkward to
approach them in person to say hi how
are you and while I think that this lack
of conversation this this
uncomfortableness has stemmed in part
from the rise the digital age I think
it’s part of something larger political
phenomena cultural phenomena we live in
times characterized by polarization I
don’t need to name names of candidates
of parties of movements for you to know
that all around the world we are seeing
the rise of ideologies that seek to
divide we are seeing the propagation of
narratives that use us versus them for
the political agenda and gain of a few
but good people against one another but
you see the thing is us versus them only
works is only legitimate when the US and
the vehm are separable but what if we
start asking them how they are who they
are if we see the light illuminate in
their eyes and the fire in their stomach
ignite and we feel their humanity I feel
but soon the van starts feeling a lot
more like the US and isn’t that what we
need these days to feel a little bit
more like us so why aren’t we doing that
why are the Austin of them so separable
because we live in these things called
silos bubbles if you will echo chambers
so much so to the extent that some are
calling the times that we’re living in
post truth what does that even mean post
truth that were so silenced or deeply in
French in our desperate
oh geez that when anyone says something
within our silo within our bubble we
agree with it but from other bubbles
they can use alternative box and maybe
that’s funny but it’s not because we’re
not talking to each other we’re pitting
ourselves against each other and how can
we thrive if that’s the case this past
fall I lay on the floor of my room and I
wept as I realized that ideology the
parties that kids were winning people
were voting and succeeding who didn’t
want me alive
my name is the odd Ahmed Ahmed I’m an 18
year old progressive activist student
from Princeton New Jersey I’m American
Muslim and I’m unapologetic about it and
for that whether it’s how I pray the
fact that I’m fasting right now and
that’s my worship the fact that’s my
last name whatever it might be what I
believe who I vote for there are people
who don’t want me to exist don’t want me
to thrive there are people who will
actively do things to prevent me from
thriving that I cried as I’ve realized
those people there were a lot of them
that’s a hard thing to swallow but I
realized I didn’t hate them all I was
angry sure but how could I blame someone
in a bubble whether it’s the West
Virginia coal miner your Daily Mail
reader whoever it might be how can I
blame them for not knowing me in the
same way that I don’t know them
you see I’ve just painted them with a
broad brush I evokes an image of a West
Virginia coal miner a Daily Mail reader
and assumed that political ideology I
assumed what they might think of me the
same way that they might paint me with a
broad brush because of my name because
of where I live because of how I
practice this were so entrenched in
these bubbles so as I realized this
example to the gravity of the question
where do I even start having these
conversations what we’re seeing is that
disagreement challenging opinions
discourse is happening in facebook
comment threads Twitter whores where are
we challenging each other really
engaging in productive dialogue in
person I’m not here to save you all need
to sit around in a circle and hold hands
and sing Kumbaya I’m not here for that
we should be disagreeing with one
another there are things I believe and I
will stand up for and I will defend them
but I shouldn’t just be echoing them to
people who already agree with me I
should be bringing my idea what I’m
spreading my idea worth spreading
is that how can I call myself an
activist how can I stand for humanity if
I haven’t burst my bubble how can I
advocate for a community if I don’t know
my community how can I advocate for
equality if I myself am buying into
us-versus-them narratives so I say I ask
myself these questions I realized I
needed to start smaller so I decided to
start with my high school and for me
that was possible and I want to ground
this conversation in the fact that it
was possible for me because of my
intersecting privileges I go to a small
school it was possible for me my
intersecting privileges allowed it for
me that I was never unsafe in my
conversations those two things alone
that is not true for the majority of
people around the world so I recognized
that for me it was my high school but
for you it can be your homeroom your
knitting circle your old friends that
you made on Club Penguin I don’t care
but it has to be someone that person
next to you we have to be looking each
other in the eye and asking each other
how we are who we are
you see I shouldn’t have to remind you
again that high school sucks for a lot
of us it’s a time that many of us would
cut out we’d be categorized as being a
time of misunderstanding I’m development
sure and a lot of my fondest memories I
just graduated high school so granted a
lot of my fondest memory
from high school but I think that’s true
for a lot of people it’s a time when we
asked ourselves do I belong am i worth
it am I good enough
even those questions we learn a lot
about ourselves but in those hallways
there’s also a lot that hurts
you see I decided to become a public
person at a young age and what does that
even mean I founded an organization when
I was in eighth grade I made headlines I
advocated I ruffled feathers I called
people out and people started to talk as
they do right high school life
rumors spread quickly and there are a
few resources or recourses to set the
record straight
that was hard
these are nights when I asked myself
it’s what I’m doing doing anything why
do they hate me and it wasn’t that
everyone hated me but people oftentimes
didn’t get me it’s easy to reduce people
to a flat perception of what you think
they are based on rumors based on
snippets of information that you might
have heard about them if we do it all
the time and that made high school hard
often because I wanted to engage with
people I wanted for people to understand
my genuine passion I wanted to dialogue
but there were few opportunities to do
that so I decided to have these
conversations because what better way to
set the record straight to dispel
preconceived notions that I have about
others and also there’s about me than
sitting down and asking them questions
like if you could change one thing about
the school what would it be and why
questions like what are your greatest
hopes and fears for the world questions
like what do you look forward to what
are you passionate about do you have any
questions for me I had 15-minute
conversation the 237 people and I
learned more in those conversations than
I could have in many classrooms but high
school is a time when we assume that
lectures
or the mode of learning I think we can
all agree that that isn’t the case we
learn leaders are born in the
uncomfortable when we dare to question
when we dare to oppose the status quo so
why is it that in high school so often
the apathetic student who propagates and
perpetuates problematic ideals is
glorified while the student pushing for
structural changes vilified you see I
don’t believe in breaking rules
I believe in changing them and that’s
why I engaged in this project I wrote a
piece for Teen Vogue at the end I
submitted a policy paper to my school
putting an amalgam idiots information
presenting it saying this is what we
need to change this is what the people
are feeling and my most profound lesson
that I learned was if I could do it all
over again identify as an activist first
sure but I should have talked to
everyone and then activate it because
who am i advocating for the 15 30 people
that I talk to every day at school oh my
advocating for the larger community and
if I’m interested and advocating for the
broader community I need to be talking
to them and as I talk to them I heard
from people who just want more
conversation whether it’s custodians who
want the public announcements is to be
used more effectively so they can do
their jobs more efficiently or whether
it’s the kitchen staff who wants the
school newspaper to be given to them so
they can franchise in the community
people want to be heard and franchise
communicated to and that’s what I
learned people are human they want to be
happy they want to feel they want to
feel like us and the way that we feel
that is by looking in the eye and
talking to them and I felt that humanity
in every person that I talked to her
brother’s a political Yahoo ecology i
sat across with people that I knew hated
me me because my politics what they
heard about me but it’s hard to hate
somebody you know and when you look them
across the table and you just see them
as that person they’re just a person who
wants the same things that you do and
there are certainly moments that I was
discouraged there were moments when I
asked people what do you want to change
about the world and they would say under
landing they want more people to be
understanding but then I would ask them
do you have any questions for me and
they would say no no it’s a hard took
the position to swallow but I swallowed
it because I realized we’re all on our
own path and I’m not here to judge where
we are I am here to say let’s start
somewhere because too many students are
navigating hallways and feeling unsafe
I talked to black students who felt that
in my predominantly white school they
can only feel safe around other black
students a nice talk to students who
never felt safe anywhere because we’re
neglecting key conversations around
minority experience sexual assault
mental health current events standard of
excellence how are we expecting to
cultivate to educate leaders of tomorrow
let alone leaders of today if we aren’t
talking about today let alone tomorrow
we are avoiding conversations that are
hard there are difficult that are
uncomfortable but that’s what we need to
be having because how are we expecting
Muslim students to go to school and
perform at the same level on the field
in a classroom when Muslims are being
killed for praying how are we expecting
black students to go into the school and
perform on the field in the classroom
when everyday they turn on TV and see
another black body brutalized how are we
expecting survivors of sexual assault to
navigate hallways that are supposed to
make them feel safe when this was to
learn when we think we’ve done our job
when we mentioned no means no once let
alone an affirmative consent model of
yes means yes how are we expecting to
cultivate leaders of today let alone
tomorrow if we are taught to know minut
details of a world war two but to know
nothing about the Iraq and Afghanistan
wars that happened during our lifetime
it should not be the case that when my
kids ask me the kids that I hope to one
day have asked me daddy
what were those Wars like I should not
answer I don’t know we are letting down
students we are letting down each other
we don’t demand that we engage in hard
conversations we don’t demand that we
are uncomfortable that we approach these
topics with nuance because there is a
lack of objectivity of the way that we
feel objectivity the way we feel close
your clarity is by talking to people
learning from
it’s because the oppressed are the
experts on their oppression so let’s
hear from them
let’s elderly beat those boys who looks
past the microphone let’s talk to one
another so I did that 237 times and I
learned so much and I felt so much
humanity and I was moved and I was
changed but this is just a starting
point 237 people it’s about how much a
small airplane holds maybe one that you
traveled on to get here today there are
seven billion people in the world though
that’s a lot of people and this was my
first starting point because they’re
talking at least 237 people it changed
my life they’re talking to people in my
school but it doesn’t have to be your
school you can start with that person
next to you you can look at them in the
eye you can ask them how they are you
can feel their truth you can spread that
message you can dismantle us-versus-them
by embracing this idea that we are all
us that we all need to feel us and be us
together and thrive together forward and
disagree in person in challenge and ask
questions and ask hard questions
these are for doing that we can burst
our bubbles we can resist through
conversation because most people who
want us to be divided who want us to
hate one another to scapegoat one
another because it’s convenient because
it’s easy because it’s expedient it’s
easier to count the number of likes on a
tweet than it is to quantify the number
of hearts and minds changed but I’m
asking you today let’s change some minds
and hearts let’s get to know some minds
and hearts because that’s what’s
beautiful in this world that’s what gets
me excited I hope it gets you excited
too because 237 people changed my life
and I did that that was my bold move my
bold move was daring to talk to the
people in my very hallways to peep
who make myspace liveable the people
that I shared community with for so long
but it doesn’t have to be your hallway
because that was my bold moves but now
it’s your move
thank you
when you walked in today you sat down
did you say hi to the person next to you
did you ask them how they were I imagine
for many of you the answer is probably
no and today’s day and age approaching a
stranger and saying hi to them can feel
a little bit like asking them for their
firstborn child and I felt that and
that’s why as my senior project I
decided to set a goal for myself before
I left high school I want him to talk to
every single person in my high school
community teachers students kitchen
staff everyone I ended up having 237
conversations 15 minutes each and here’s
why I did it and here’s what I learned
you see we don’t talk to strangers we
live in times characterized by an
obsession with instant gratification
plotting our next steps
connecting often online and look I’m not
here to hate on social media I love
social medias next as much as the next
person the connections that I formed on
the internet online have benefited me so
profoundly and I’ve benefited Society so
profoundly but there is something to be
said about the fact that there are
people that I follow on Instagram
snapchat etc and I learn intimate
details about their life basically
everything and I see those same people
in town some of them where I live I see
them in person and I want to ask them
how are those red velvet pancakes
you had 2.75 hours ago but instead I
keep walking
as if I don’t know them I don’t even say
hi because there’s a whole category for
many of us a friends that are only for
social media it’s fine to know their
secrets their truths they are
performative selves but it’s not cool
it’s uncomfortable it’s awkward to
approach them in person to say hi how
are you and while I think that this lack
of conversation this this
uncomfortableness has stemmed in part
from the rise the digital age I think
it’s part of something larger political
phenomena cultural phenomena we live in
times characterized by polarization I
don’t need to name names of candidates
of parties of movements for you to know
that all around the world we are seeing
the rise of ideologies that seek to
divide we are seeing the propagation of
narratives that use us versus them for
the political agenda and gain of a few
but good people against one another but
you see the thing is us versus them only
works is only legitimate when the US and
the vehm are separable but what if we
start asking them how they are who they
are if we see the light illuminate in
their eyes and the fire in their stomach
ignite and we feel their humanity I feel
but soon the van starts feeling a lot
more like the US and isn’t that what we
need these days to feel a little bit
more like us so why aren’t we doing that
why are the Austin of them so separable
because we live in these things called
silos bubbles if you will echo chambers
so much so to the extent that some are
calling the times that we’re living in
post truth what does that even mean post
truth that were so silenced or deeply in
French in our desperate
oh geez that when anyone says something
within our silo within our bubble we
agree with it but from other bubbles
they can use alternative box and maybe
that’s funny but it’s not because we’re
not talking to each other we’re pitting
ourselves against each other and how can
we thrive if that’s the case this past
fall I lay on the floor of my room and I
wept as I realized that ideology the
parties that kids were winning people
were voting and succeeding who didn’t
want me alive
my name is the odd Ahmed Ahmed I’m an 18
year old progressive activist student
from Princeton New Jersey I’m American
Muslim and I’m unapologetic about it and
for that whether it’s how I pray the
fact that I’m fasting right now and
that’s my worship the fact that’s my
last name whatever it might be what I
believe who I vote for there are people
who don’t want me to exist don’t want me
to thrive there are people who will
actively do things to prevent me from
thriving that I cried as I’ve realized
those people there were a lot of them
that’s a hard thing to swallow but I
realized I didn’t hate them all I was
angry sure but how could I blame someone
in a bubble whether it’s the West
Virginia coal miner your Daily Mail
reader whoever it might be how can I
blame them for not knowing me in the
same way that I don’t know them
you see I’ve just painted them with a
broad brush I evokes an image of a West
Virginia coal miner a Daily Mail reader
and assumed that political ideology I
assumed what they might think of me the
same way that they might paint me with a
broad brush because of my name because
of where I live because of how I
practice this were so entrenched in
these bubbles so as I realized this
example to the gravity of the question
where do I even start having these
conversations what we’re seeing is that
disagreement challenging opinions
discourse is happening in facebook
comment threads Twitter whores where are
we challenging each other really
engaging in productive dialogue in
person I’m not here to save you all need
to sit around in a circle and hold hands
and sing Kumbaya I’m not here for that
we should be disagreeing with one
another there are things I believe and I
will stand up for and I will defend them
but I shouldn’t just be echoing them to
people who already agree with me I
should be bringing my idea what I’m
spreading my idea worth spreading
is that how can I call myself an
activist how can I stand for humanity if
I haven’t burst my bubble how can I
advocate for a community if I don’t know
my community how can I advocate for
equality if I myself am buying into
us-versus-them narratives so I say I ask
myself these questions I realized I
needed to start smaller so I decided to
start with my high school and for me
that was possible and I want to ground
this conversation in the fact that it
was possible for me because of my
intersecting privileges I go to a small
school it was possible for me my
intersecting privileges allowed it for
me that I was never unsafe in my
conversations those two things alone
that is not true for the majority of
people around the world so I recognized
that for me it was my high school but
for you it can be your homeroom your
knitting circle your old friends that
you made on Club Penguin I don’t care
but it has to be someone that person
next to you we have to be looking each
other in the eye and asking each other
how we are who we are
you see I shouldn’t have to remind you
again that high school sucks for a lot
of us it’s a time that many of us would
cut out we’d be categorized as being a
time of misunderstanding I’m development
sure and a lot of my fondest memories I
just graduated high school so granted a
lot of my fondest memory
from high school but I think that’s true
for a lot of people it’s a time when we
asked ourselves do I belong am i worth
it am I good enough
even those questions we learn a lot
about ourselves but in those hallways
there’s also a lot that hurts
you see I decided to become a public
person at a young age and what does that
even mean I founded an organization when
I was in eighth grade I made headlines I
advocated I ruffled feathers I called
people out and people started to talk as
they do right high school life
rumors spread quickly and there are a
few resources or recourses to set the
record straight
that was hard
these are nights when I asked myself
it’s what I’m doing doing anything why
do they hate me and it wasn’t that
everyone hated me but people oftentimes
didn’t get me it’s easy to reduce people
to a flat perception of what you think
they are based on rumors based on
snippets of information that you might
have heard about them if we do it all
the time and that made high school hard
often because I wanted to engage with
people I wanted for people to understand
my genuine passion I wanted to dialogue
but there were few opportunities to do
that so I decided to have these
conversations because what better way to
set the record straight to dispel
preconceived notions that I have about
others and also there’s about me than
sitting down and asking them questions
like if you could change one thing about
the school what would it be and why
questions like what are your greatest
hopes and fears for the world questions
like what do you look forward to what
are you passionate about do you have any
questions for me I had 15-minute
conversation the 237 people and I
learned more in those conversations than
I could have in many classrooms but high
school is a time when we assume that
lectures
or the mode of learning I think we can
all agree that that isn’t the case we
learn leaders are born in the
uncomfortable when we dare to question
when we dare to oppose the status quo so
why is it that in high school so often
the apathetic student who propagates and
perpetuates problematic ideals is
glorified while the student pushing for
structural changes vilified you see I
don’t believe in breaking rules
I believe in changing them and that’s
why I engaged in this project I wrote a
piece for Teen Vogue at the end I
submitted a policy paper to my school
putting an amalgam idiots information
presenting it saying this is what we
need to change this is what the people
are feeling and my most profound lesson
that I learned was if I could do it all
over again identify as an activist first
sure but I should have talked to
everyone and then activate it because
who am i advocating for the 15 30 people
that I talk to every day at school oh my
advocating for the larger community and
if I’m interested and advocating for the
broader community I need to be talking
to them and as I talk to them I heard
from people who just want more
conversation whether it’s custodians who
want the public announcements is to be
used more effectively so they can do
their jobs more efficiently or whether
it’s the kitchen staff who wants the
school newspaper to be given to them so
they can franchise in the community
people want to be heard and franchise
communicated to and that’s what I
learned people are human they want to be
happy they want to feel they want to
feel like us and the way that we feel
that is by looking in the eye and
talking to them and I felt that humanity
in every person that I talked to her
brother’s a political Yahoo ecology i
sat across with people that I knew hated
me me because my politics what they
heard about me but it’s hard to hate
somebody you know and when you look them
across the table and you just see them
as that person they’re just a person who
wants the same things that you do and
there are certainly moments that I was
discouraged there were moments when I
asked people what do you want to change
about the world and they would say under
landing they want more people to be
understanding but then I would ask them
do you have any questions for me and
they would say no no it’s a hard took
the position to swallow but I swallowed
it because I realized we’re all on our
own path and I’m not here to judge where
we are I am here to say let’s start
somewhere because too many students are
navigating hallways and feeling unsafe
I talked to black students who felt that
in my predominantly white school they
can only feel safe around other black
students a nice talk to students who
never felt safe anywhere because we’re
neglecting key conversations around
minority experience sexual assault
mental health current events standard of
excellence how are we expecting to
cultivate to educate leaders of tomorrow
let alone leaders of today if we aren’t
talking about today let alone tomorrow
we are avoiding conversations that are
hard there are difficult that are
uncomfortable but that’s what we need to
be having because how are we expecting
Muslim students to go to school and
perform at the same level on the field
in a classroom when Muslims are being
killed for praying how are we expecting
black students to go into the school and
perform on the field in the classroom
when everyday they turn on TV and see
another black body brutalized how are we
expecting survivors of sexual assault to
navigate hallways that are supposed to
make them feel safe when this was to
learn when we think we’ve done our job
when we mentioned no means no once let
alone an affirmative consent model of
yes means yes how are we expecting to
cultivate leaders of today let alone
tomorrow if we are taught to know minut
details of a world war two but to know
nothing about the Iraq and Afghanistan
wars that happened during our lifetime
it should not be the case that when my
kids ask me the kids that I hope to one
day have asked me daddy
what were those Wars like I should not
answer I don’t know we are letting down
students we are letting down each other
we don’t demand that we engage in hard
conversations we don’t demand that we
are uncomfortable that we approach these
topics with nuance because there is a
lack of objectivity of the way that we
feel objectivity the way we feel close
your clarity is by talking to people
learning from
it’s because the oppressed are the
experts on their oppression so let’s
hear from them
let’s elderly beat those boys who looks
past the microphone let’s talk to one
another so I did that 237 times and I
learned so much and I felt so much
humanity and I was moved and I was
changed but this is just a starting
point 237 people it’s about how much a
small airplane holds maybe one that you
traveled on to get here today there are
seven billion people in the world though
that’s a lot of people and this was my
first starting point because they’re
talking at least 237 people it changed
my life they’re talking to people in my
school but it doesn’t have to be your
school you can start with that person
next to you you can look at them in the
eye you can ask them how they are you
can feel their truth you can spread that
message you can dismantle us-versus-them
by embracing this idea that we are all
us that we all need to feel us and be us
together and thrive together forward and
disagree in person in challenge and ask
questions and ask hard questions
these are for doing that we can burst
our bubbles we can resist through
conversation because most people who
want us to be divided who want us to
hate one another to scapegoat one
another because it’s convenient because
it’s easy because it’s expedient it’s
easier to count the number of likes on a
tweet than it is to quantify the number
of hearts and minds changed but I’m
asking you today let’s change some minds
and hearts let’s get to know some minds
and hearts because that’s what’s
beautiful in this world that’s what gets
me excited I hope it gets you excited
too because 237 people changed my life
and I did that that was my bold move my
bold move was daring to talk to the
people in my very hallways to peep
who make myspace liveable the people
that I shared community with for so long
but it doesn’t have to be your hallway
because that was my bold moves but now
it’s your move
thank you
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