[Applause]
for those of you who don’t know me I’m a
new student I switched from another
school here in Kuwait at the beginning
of this year what I find weird though is
that despite my relative unfamiliar with
ASX I feel a lot more comfortable here
why I’m not sure true I asked a provides
a stronger education so that doesn’t
completely explain why I feel such
comfort to be honest I have a greater
sense of pride in a test case a new
student than I ever did in my old school
to clarify this a bit I’ll start off
with the story from when I was at my old
school it was the end of eighth grade
and the school had organized a field
trip for us as a leaving middle school
type thing the plan was a movie than
lunch now after we finished lunch I
turned to my friends the table in the
mind them to leave a tip one of them
goes I’ll leave a tip but I don’t have
to what and he goes it’s not like we’re
in the u.s. where everyone goes crazy
about that stuff I can be a little and
not give him anything and nobody will
give a damn here I can do whatever I
want
no one cares he said that that was such
smugness such entitlement I understand
in some cultures it isn’t customary to
leave a tip and I wish that’d have been
the reason for his remarks it wasn’t I
think what really resonated with me was
his no one cares it’s wrong on so many
levels set aside all the societal labels
that we create and we’re all just plain
people the waiters and waitresses are
people no one cares he knew that he
could get away with it and he loved that
he could get away with it he loved that
he had the power to not pay that tip I
still have that image in my mind’s eye
all of us sitting around that table I
remember looking up expecting those
seated next to me to be as visibly
shocked as I after all everyone else at
the table had been listening silence
nobody batted an eyelash in a sense he
was right no one cared
that’s why I’m giving this talk
that’s the mentality that we need to get
rid of that closed-minded bigotry
stemming from being steeped and
prejudiced from an early age I’ve
thought and deliberated search for the
missing element in my previous school
which inspired that mentality and I
think I’ve reached perhaps something of
a conclusion my old school was uniform
it was a small socio-economic bubble of
people each student was a distorted
reflection of the rest ideas went
unquestioned because if everybody in
your circle of friends agrees with it
then surely it must be true I felt the
creativity the life leeching out of me
there so I started searching for
someplace better
and yet I wondered what was better what
defined better at ASX I think I found my
answer diversity is what ASX has that my
old school did not when I throw an idea
out there I can always find someone
waiting to catch it to throw something
back at me ideas of my old school and
tumbling sadly into the abyss drowned
out by the infinite echo chamber here’s
the thing my old school taught math it
taught science English and Arabic were
mandatory but unless you have any idea
of how to implement that knowledge it’s
absolutely useless if I don’t have any
consciousness of what’s going on around
me I won’t know what to do with all the
practical skills that the education
system gives me I think in a way I was
missing half of my education the
amalgamation of cultures ideas belief
systems that’s what I was missing I was
looking at the world through a
restrictive keyhole through the lens of
an elitist Walden community at ASX my
perspective has changed I’m happier here
because as a result of the interactions
I’ve had I feel a bit more knowledgeable
about the world around me why am I
talking about this though why do I think
that it’s important to bring up the
conspicuous lack of diversity in a
school that I am no longer attending
this is why what’s going to happen now
is you’re going to have all of these
young adults graduating from that school
and because the nature that school a lot
of these people will be shaping the
future of Kuwait and they’re going to be
completely blind to the world around
them
that is what stifles the emerging calls
for social change in my country I think
the bigoted irrationally patriotic
mentality starts from
we’re kids sitting in that classroom in
that private school surrounded by our
peers all nodding in unison as our
teacher says that Hindus are bad people
who worshiped cows and that they’re bad
people that we shouldn’t interact with
and that is a true story at ASX you
might get one or two teachers like that
the difference is that ASX that wouldn’t
have ended up with 25 students nodding
an agreement
diversity lessens the influence of
conformity someone would have said
something someone would have thought hey
something isn’t quite right here
anecdotes aside there are tons and I
mean tons of studies showing the
positive benefits of diversity and
learning environments just to name one
I’ve studied in the u.s. of 25,000
undergrads at over 200 four-year
colleges showed that on campuses where
institutional policies foster diversity
students had stronger cognitive
development develop better leadership
skills and they also end up with a more
with more satisfied with their college
experience we’ve established there as an
issue we know that the severe lack of
diversity in our communities exists can
it be remedied I think so will it be
easy I’m afraid not
so how do I think we should approach
this start from the very bottom
preschoolers kindergartners at that age
I would hope prejudice hasn’t set in yet
small steps encourage educators to
initiate discussions about acceptance
about compassion organized workshops for
parents to ensure their good role models
a lot of times kids pick that stuff up
from their parents when kids are older
bringing speakers who have stories to
tell stories about being discriminated
against maybe in stories about when they
were prejudiced towards someone I
remember in fourth grade two policemen
came to talk to us about well being
policemen maybe that was just
insignificant but I had a lasting
impression on me it was a glimpse into
the lives of the policemen a piece of
the real world brought into the
classroom that’s our goal remember to
get these kids to see the real world
outside of that bubble for students my
age start conversations in class about
religion about race conversations with
actual substance which provoke thought
this isn’t to say that we aren’t making
progress from volunteers and programs
like Boy ak2 things as simple as
compassion club at ASX youth are getting
the opportunity to get their hands dirty
to put themselves into the world
world it gives me hope that eventually
something will happen eventually we will
bring about change I hope I believe that
one day we will be rid of that bigoted
prejudiced mentality one day I want to
find myself sitting in the audience with
you all watching that boy he refused to
pay that tips the waiter practice
compassion he’ll say and I know that
I’ll know that we’ve succeeded thank you [Applause]
for those of you who don’t know me I’m a
new student I switched from another
school here in Kuwait at the beginning
of this year what I find weird though is
that despite my relative unfamiliar with
ASX I feel a lot more comfortable here
why I’m not sure true I asked a provides
a stronger education so that doesn’t
completely explain why I feel such
comfort to be honest I have a greater
sense of pride in a test case a new
student than I ever did in my old school
to clarify this a bit I’ll start off
with the story from when I was at my old
school it was the end of eighth grade
and the school had organized a field
trip for us as a leaving middle school
type thing the plan was a movie than
lunch now after we finished lunch I
turned to my friends the table in the
mind them to leave a tip one of them
goes I’ll leave a tip but I don’t have
to what and he goes it’s not like we’re
in the u.s. where everyone goes crazy
about that stuff I can be a little and
not give him anything and nobody will
give a damn here I can do whatever I
want
no one cares he said that that was such
smugness such entitlement I understand
in some cultures it isn’t customary to
leave a tip and I wish that’d have been
the reason for his remarks it wasn’t I
think what really resonated with me was
his no one cares it’s wrong on so many
levels set aside all the societal labels
that we create and we’re all just plain
people the waiters and waitresses are
people no one cares he knew that he
could get away with it and he loved that
he could get away with it he loved that
he had the power to not pay that tip I
still have that image in my mind’s eye
all of us sitting around that table I
remember looking up expecting those
seated next to me to be as visibly
shocked as I after all everyone else at
the table had been listening silence
nobody batted an eyelash in a sense he
was right no one cared
that’s why I’m giving this talk
that’s the mentality that we need to get
rid of that closed-minded bigotry
stemming from being steeped and
prejudiced from an early age I’ve
thought and deliberated search for the
missing element in my previous school
which inspired that mentality and I
think I’ve reached perhaps something of
a conclusion my old school was uniform
it was a small socio-economic bubble of
people each student was a distorted
reflection of the rest ideas went
unquestioned because if everybody in
your circle of friends agrees with it
then surely it must be true I felt the
creativity the life leeching out of me
there so I started searching for
someplace better
and yet I wondered what was better what
defined better at ASX I think I found my
answer diversity is what ASX has that my
old school did not when I throw an idea
out there I can always find someone
waiting to catch it to throw something
back at me ideas of my old school and
tumbling sadly into the abyss drowned
out by the infinite echo chamber here’s
the thing my old school taught math it
taught science English and Arabic were
mandatory but unless you have any idea
of how to implement that knowledge it’s
absolutely useless if I don’t have any
consciousness of what’s going on around
me I won’t know what to do with all the
practical skills that the education
system gives me I think in a way I was
missing half of my education the
amalgamation of cultures ideas belief
systems that’s what I was missing I was
looking at the world through a
restrictive keyhole through the lens of
an elitist Walden community at ASX my
perspective has changed I’m happier here
because as a result of the interactions
I’ve had I feel a bit more knowledgeable
about the world around me why am I
talking about this though why do I think
that it’s important to bring up the
conspicuous lack of diversity in a
school that I am no longer attending
this is why what’s going to happen now
is you’re going to have all of these
young adults graduating from that school
and because the nature that school a lot
of these people will be shaping the
future of Kuwait and they’re going to be
completely blind to the world around
them
that is what stifles the emerging calls
for social change in my country I think
the bigoted irrationally patriotic
mentality starts from
we’re kids sitting in that classroom in
that private school surrounded by our
peers all nodding in unison as our
teacher says that Hindus are bad people
who worshiped cows and that they’re bad
people that we shouldn’t interact with
and that is a true story at ASX you
might get one or two teachers like that
the difference is that ASX that wouldn’t
have ended up with 25 students nodding
an agreement
diversity lessens the influence of
conformity someone would have said
something someone would have thought hey
something isn’t quite right here
anecdotes aside there are tons and I
mean tons of studies showing the
positive benefits of diversity and
learning environments just to name one
I’ve studied in the u.s. of 25,000
undergrads at over 200 four-year
colleges showed that on campuses where
institutional policies foster diversity
students had stronger cognitive
development develop better leadership
skills and they also end up with a more
with more satisfied with their college
experience we’ve established there as an
issue we know that the severe lack of
diversity in our communities exists can
it be remedied I think so will it be
easy I’m afraid not
so how do I think we should approach
this start from the very bottom
preschoolers kindergartners at that age
I would hope prejudice hasn’t set in yet
small steps encourage educators to
initiate discussions about acceptance
about compassion organized workshops for
parents to ensure their good role models
a lot of times kids pick that stuff up
from their parents when kids are older
bringing speakers who have stories to
tell stories about being discriminated
against maybe in stories about when they
were prejudiced towards someone I
remember in fourth grade two policemen
came to talk to us about well being
policemen maybe that was just
insignificant but I had a lasting
impression on me it was a glimpse into
the lives of the policemen a piece of
the real world brought into the
classroom that’s our goal remember to
get these kids to see the real world
outside of that bubble for students my
age start conversations in class about
religion about race conversations with
actual substance which provoke thought
this isn’t to say that we aren’t making
progress from volunteers and programs
like Boy ak2 things as simple as
compassion club at ASX youth are getting
the opportunity to get their hands dirty
to put themselves into the world
world it gives me hope that eventually
something will happen eventually we will
bring about change I hope I believe that
one day we will be rid of that bigoted
prejudiced mentality one day I want to
find myself sitting in the audience with
you all watching that boy he refused to
pay that tips the waiter practice
compassion he’ll say and I know that
I’ll know that we’ve succeeded thank you [Applause]
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