[Music]
so all of you should have a piece of
paper if you don’t have it just raise
your hand and one of the volunteers will
give it to you there are two questions
on this piece of paper I want you to
think about it don’t start answering it
now but think as I go through my speech
what will it take to change our
communities and in changing our
communities we’re changing this world
one little step at a time
my name is Pam Shani
and I’m here today whether you’re a
young old woman or man to get out into
communities and to start volunteering to
start giving services for a good cause
whenever my friends or my family come to
me and they tell me they are lost unsure
of what they’re doing
what kind of occupation they should have
what they should study in college I tell
them one very important thing that
worked for me and that is start by doing
community service because they’ll be
able to find your occupation your dream
job it wasn’t a long time ago when I was
in the same place I felt lost
unsure what I was doing everything in my
life was different I was a new girl in a
new country with the whole new world
around me and fortunately one day one of
my most amazing professors approached me
and she told me we have this program for
the highly academic students in our
school
she sat through this program will do
mounting activities Lee
activities personal development
activities and even though I had a very
very busy life
I said yes I decided to do it because
every morning I woke up from five
o’clock and I wouldn’t get home until
9:00 or 10:00 at night I was working I
was taking full-time college courses
while still in high school and on top of
all that I had just decided to volunteer
I worked because I knew it was very
difficult for my father to afford five
kids when he was only doing a part-time
job
he was also studying at a university for
his PhD in engineering that was two
hours away from us so I only got to see
my father on the weekends my mom she was
also very busy she was studying in
college she had to take care of
responsibilities for five kids while my
dad was away and I thought maybe if I
did this I could put up a lot of
pressure off of my father’s shoulders I
thought my mom’s shoulders every morning
I woke up and I took the bus or the
train to get to my destination so that I
wouldn’t have to bother my parents with
that as well
and you see when we do these things they
all started to add up for me my
volunteering activities my highly
academics in high school and in college
by the time I graduated from high school
I had already done two years of my
college and I also graduated earlier
than my peers and all these things they
started to add up and I was able to gain
my gold medal from Washington DC
Congress Building
that wasn’t the only thing that I
received I received my silver my bronze
many other certificates for my
achievement from one of the senators in
my state you see the person you’ll be in
five years is all based on the
activities you do today what kind of
books you read today what kind of videos
do you watch today what do you do in
your daily life all depends on the
person you’ll be in five years so if you
don’t like it change it right now
because now is the time to change it so
that in five years when you look back on
what you’ve done you’ll be proud of it
you won’t regret how you spend your time
you’ll be part of all your achievements
people tell me I’m lucky to be where I
am they tell me you were lucky to get
the gold medal you were lucky to be
successful but that’s not true it wasn’t
luck they got all backwards if it was
luck I’m gonna have had so many
sleepless nights it felt was luck I
would have failed on my face so many
times I wouldn’t have been on the verge
of giving up it was true perseverance
perseverance is the key to success and
don’t stop with success go for greatness
because that’s well that’s what will
make you different from the people
around you now let me get back to my
volunteering activities I first started
volunteering at a hospital because I’ve
always wanted to see the environment
I’ve always wanted to know how I felt to
work there so I volunteered at the acute
care unit and in this unit we had
patients who’ve just had surgeries so
they were in a very difficult time of
their lives
very vulnerable and every day I went
into all the patient’s rooms and I
knocked on every door and I talked to my
patients
as a friend I wouldn’t go in to ask many
endless health questions I wouldn’t go
in to poke them with a needle as a
doctor as a nurse would do but it was my
job to be their friend it was my job to
give them hope that they will get
through these hard situations for
example one day there was a patient who
shared a very difficult disease she was
diagnosed with and she forgot everything
like she forgot how to write how to read
she forgot all the basic necessities
necessaries that we learn in elementary
school and it only took her a year to
learn all these things back she she
learned how to write how treat all the
math skills that she lost and she was
able to go to college from one of my
classes in chemistry and she was the
most amazing person ever and I decided
if she went through all these hardships
and she was able to do it why can’t I do
it why can’t everybody else do it it’s
all in our hands even though I was very
busy every time because of school
because of work and every morning I woke
up with a smile on my face because I was
so excited to go volunteering I was so
excited to go and by the time I went
there I’d be so engrossed in what I was
doing that I would never realize how for
hours how three hours would pass by
because I was so engrossed in my
activities and by the by the time I had
to leave I would be reluctant to leave
because I just need five more minutes
with the people now you may ask yourself
why should I volunteer why should I give
up my precious time my energy for this
cause and if you’re not convinced I’ll
give you two points that will for sure
convince you number one to volunteering
you’ll be able to realize that you will
get way more
you give you will gain leadership skills
personal development skills you’ll be
more self-sufficient more self-confident
and all these talents will start to show
in you and when you apply for a job when
you decide to go to a different
occupation you will be the better
candidate than someone who hasn’t had
these experiences number two through
volunteering you’ll have a better
community
there’s many research done on this topic
all of them on volunteering and they
lead to one single conclusion one single
result what is that that you’ll have a
better community a community where
there’s less crime less violence where
students perform better on their exams
overall a happier safer community for
you for your children next
now were you all to imagine imagine at
the back of your mind what it would feel
like if you put a smile on a little
child’s face imagine how that would feel
what it would feel like if you receive a
thank-you from someone who’s in the
hardest most difficult time of their
lives
just imagining this gives me chills now
I imagine what would happen if you got
this feeling for real if you receive
this feeling in real life with real
experiences with real people not from
the media not from the newspaper but you
actually got it for real and believe me
it’s way better than imagination now the
papers that I gave you there are two
questions on it please look at it now
and think about how much free time do
you have in a week what kind of
activities do you do you see there are
168 hours in one single week that’s a
lot of hours if you think about it if
you sleep eight hours a day that’s 52
hours and if you work full-time job
let’s say a full-time job is usually 40
hours and the most anyone would work
it’s 70 so if you add all these up you
still have 42 hours extra even with a
full-time job I’m not telling you to use
all your 42 hours for volunteering I’m
just telling you use 2 hours of it 3
hours of it to make this place better
and now you might be convinced and you
tell me I don’t know what kind of
volunteering activities I should do I
don’t know what’s out there in my
community you see today is the time
where Kurdistan needs the most
volunteers case’ was only about a week
ago when many people had to flee their
homes they became homeless and there
right now they’re on the streets it’s
our job our responsibility to make these
people help them at the hardest time of
their life you can start by forming a
group and plant trees in your
neighborhood start by volunteering at a
preschool start their start but little
pieces at a time so that we can make our
next generation of kids successful in
the life they had they have ahead of
them you see this world it’s very small
there are people out there with the same
age as me with the same ambition with
the same life goals with the same dreams
but they are not able to follow their
dreams they are not able to follow their
occupation because they have to worry
about if they’re gonna have enough food
for the day they have to worry about if
they’re gonna have somewhere to sleep
all night I was born with these
blessings they weren’t I was born with
warm food with a loving family with
shelter every day and if I know with my
blessings I can make it for make it help
them have a better place so that when
they go they can follow their dreams and
make our world better this world doesn’t
revolve around me it doesn’t revolve
around you
but it revolves around all of us as a
whole we are all part of it part of a
community part of a country part of a
nation and if you grasp this in your
mind think think about a little bit if
you grasp it you will realize that these
people are our responsibility
because we are all like a big family
billions of people all like a big family
and this world is like a big house where
we live in it thank you
[Music]
so all of you should have a piece of
paper if you don’t have it just raise
your hand and one of the volunteers will
give it to you there are two questions
on this piece of paper I want you to
think about it don’t start answering it
now but think as I go through my speech
what will it take to change our
communities and in changing our
communities we’re changing this world
one little step at a time
my name is Pam Shani
and I’m here today whether you’re a
young old woman or man to get out into
communities and to start volunteering to
start giving services for a good cause
whenever my friends or my family come to
me and they tell me they are lost unsure
of what they’re doing
what kind of occupation they should have
what they should study in college I tell
them one very important thing that
worked for me and that is start by doing
community service because they’ll be
able to find your occupation your dream
job it wasn’t a long time ago when I was
in the same place I felt lost
unsure what I was doing everything in my
life was different I was a new girl in a
new country with the whole new world
around me and fortunately one day one of
my most amazing professors approached me
and she told me we have this program for
the highly academic students in our
school
she sat through this program will do
mounting activities Lee
activities personal development
activities and even though I had a very
very busy life
I said yes I decided to do it because
every morning I woke up from five
o’clock and I wouldn’t get home until
9:00 or 10:00 at night I was working I
was taking full-time college courses
while still in high school and on top of
all that I had just decided to volunteer
I worked because I knew it was very
difficult for my father to afford five
kids when he was only doing a part-time
job
he was also studying at a university for
his PhD in engineering that was two
hours away from us so I only got to see
my father on the weekends my mom she was
also very busy she was studying in
college she had to take care of
responsibilities for five kids while my
dad was away and I thought maybe if I
did this I could put up a lot of
pressure off of my father’s shoulders I
thought my mom’s shoulders every morning
I woke up and I took the bus or the
train to get to my destination so that I
wouldn’t have to bother my parents with
that as well
and you see when we do these things they
all started to add up for me my
volunteering activities my highly
academics in high school and in college
by the time I graduated from high school
I had already done two years of my
college and I also graduated earlier
than my peers and all these things they
started to add up and I was able to gain
my gold medal from Washington DC
Congress Building
that wasn’t the only thing that I
received I received my silver my bronze
many other certificates for my
achievement from one of the senators in
my state you see the person you’ll be in
five years is all based on the
activities you do today what kind of
books you read today what kind of videos
do you watch today what do you do in
your daily life all depends on the
person you’ll be in five years so if you
don’t like it change it right now
because now is the time to change it so
that in five years when you look back on
what you’ve done you’ll be proud of it
you won’t regret how you spend your time
you’ll be part of all your achievements
people tell me I’m lucky to be where I
am they tell me you were lucky to get
the gold medal you were lucky to be
successful but that’s not true it wasn’t
luck they got all backwards if it was
luck I’m gonna have had so many
sleepless nights it felt was luck I
would have failed on my face so many
times I wouldn’t have been on the verge
of giving up it was true perseverance
perseverance is the key to success and
don’t stop with success go for greatness
because that’s well that’s what will
make you different from the people
around you now let me get back to my
volunteering activities I first started
volunteering at a hospital because I’ve
always wanted to see the environment
I’ve always wanted to know how I felt to
work there so I volunteered at the acute
care unit and in this unit we had
patients who’ve just had surgeries so
they were in a very difficult time of
their lives
very vulnerable and every day I went
into all the patient’s rooms and I
knocked on every door and I talked to my
patients
as a friend I wouldn’t go in to ask many
endless health questions I wouldn’t go
in to poke them with a needle as a
doctor as a nurse would do but it was my
job to be their friend it was my job to
give them hope that they will get
through these hard situations for
example one day there was a patient who
shared a very difficult disease she was
diagnosed with and she forgot everything
like she forgot how to write how to read
she forgot all the basic necessities
necessaries that we learn in elementary
school and it only took her a year to
learn all these things back she she
learned how to write how treat all the
math skills that she lost and she was
able to go to college from one of my
classes in chemistry and she was the
most amazing person ever and I decided
if she went through all these hardships
and she was able to do it why can’t I do
it why can’t everybody else do it it’s
all in our hands even though I was very
busy every time because of school
because of work and every morning I woke
up with a smile on my face because I was
so excited to go volunteering I was so
excited to go and by the time I went
there I’d be so engrossed in what I was
doing that I would never realize how for
hours how three hours would pass by
because I was so engrossed in my
activities and by the by the time I had
to leave I would be reluctant to leave
because I just need five more minutes
with the people now you may ask yourself
why should I volunteer why should I give
up my precious time my energy for this
cause and if you’re not convinced I’ll
give you two points that will for sure
convince you number one to volunteering
you’ll be able to realize that you will
get way more
you give you will gain leadership skills
personal development skills you’ll be
more self-sufficient more self-confident
and all these talents will start to show
in you and when you apply for a job when
you decide to go to a different
occupation you will be the better
candidate than someone who hasn’t had
these experiences number two through
volunteering you’ll have a better
community
there’s many research done on this topic
all of them on volunteering and they
lead to one single conclusion one single
result what is that that you’ll have a
better community a community where
there’s less crime less violence where
students perform better on their exams
overall a happier safer community for
you for your children next
now were you all to imagine imagine at
the back of your mind what it would feel
like if you put a smile on a little
child’s face imagine how that would feel
what it would feel like if you receive a
thank-you from someone who’s in the
hardest most difficult time of their
lives
just imagining this gives me chills now
I imagine what would happen if you got
this feeling for real if you receive
this feeling in real life with real
experiences with real people not from
the media not from the newspaper but you
actually got it for real and believe me
it’s way better than imagination now the
papers that I gave you there are two
questions on it please look at it now
and think about how much free time do
you have in a week what kind of
activities do you do you see there are
168 hours in one single week that’s a
lot of hours if you think about it if
you sleep eight hours a day that’s 52
hours and if you work full-time job
let’s say a full-time job is usually 40
hours and the most anyone would work
it’s 70 so if you add all these up you
still have 42 hours extra even with a
full-time job I’m not telling you to use
all your 42 hours for volunteering I’m
just telling you use 2 hours of it 3
hours of it to make this place better
and now you might be convinced and you
tell me I don’t know what kind of
volunteering activities I should do I
don’t know what’s out there in my
community you see today is the time
where Kurdistan needs the most
volunteers case’ was only about a week
ago when many people had to flee their
homes they became homeless and there
right now they’re on the streets it’s
our job our responsibility to make these
people help them at the hardest time of
their life you can start by forming a
group and plant trees in your
neighborhood start by volunteering at a
preschool start their start but little
pieces at a time so that we can make our
next generation of kids successful in
the life they had they have ahead of
them you see this world it’s very small
there are people out there with the same
age as me with the same ambition with
the same life goals with the same dreams
but they are not able to follow their
dreams they are not able to follow their
occupation because they have to worry
about if they’re gonna have enough food
for the day they have to worry about if
they’re gonna have somewhere to sleep
all night I was born with these
blessings they weren’t I was born with
warm food with a loving family with
shelter every day and if I know with my
blessings I can make it for make it help
them have a better place so that when
they go they can follow their dreams and
make our world better this world doesn’t
revolve around me it doesn’t revolve
around you
but it revolves around all of us as a
whole we are all part of it part of a
community part of a country part of a
nation and if you grasp this in your
mind think think about a little bit if
you grasp it you will realize that these
people are our responsibility
because we are all like a big family
billions of people all like a big family
and this world is like a big house where
we live in it thank you
[Music]
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