Here is the excerpt of the speech, watch the full in the video below:
Hello everyone,
Educated in public school until 8th grade, I had preconceived ideas of what private school would be like. A naive 13 year old, I thought that life at an independent schoolman wearing fancy cloths everyday, getting manicures after school and drinking lathes during free days…”
Ms. Tsejin starts her emotional yet very powerful speech.
Then she speaks about her challenges at the new school;
I [still] felt subconscious about my background; my race, my culture and my socio-economic status. [The School] was not as diverse as my middle school, which was the big part of the challenge. Less 20% of the class is made up of students of colour. I recall acutely being aware of how different this environment was from the one that I had been in my public school.
While that was challenging being a racial minority at the [The School], it was even more challenging being an economic minority. … I acted as though … every single day was normal to me.”
Tsejin then speaks about her encounters…
I tried to hide the real aspects of me fearing of not being accepted. I tried not to talk about my past or reveal too much about my family during conversations with classmates and teachers. I really thought that conforming to a perceived norm was the best path to growing but it wasn’t and I failed.
To try and be someone that I wasn’t, wasn’t fulfilling at all! Slowly but truly I started realising that I could be myself and I could at by my home in my own skin even if I was the only one like me here. … Students and faculty alike has encouraged me to see my story as valuable. To understand that my culture is worthy of celebration.”
and she also pays her gratitude to some of her most valuable friends of the journey in all tears.
[At the school] I was given the opportunity to teach my peers about a range of things. From how to a traditional Tibetan chupa to more serious topics like the political situation inside of Tibet. … I was able to stand up and speak about challenging issues such as the vandalism of a beautiful artwork promoting the Free Tibet…
My parents escaped Tibet in 1959 when there was a failed uprising against the cChines regime. They fled to India with almost nothing from their motherland. … I wanna take a moment to thank my parents for all of their sacrifices and their steadfast love of me, our family and our Tibet. … My gratitude towards them is beyond comprehension. “
Her conclusion include dedication and commitment to her cause;
Having become aware of the value and power of my own voice, I have sought to amplify Tibetan voices which are so brutally suppressed that self immolation protest has become an awful last resort for more than 150 Tibetans since 2009. Nobody, not you, not I, not any human being should have to have to put their lives in danger, to suffer because their voices aren’t being heard. I recognise the earnest longing of a Tibet free from repression and I identify with that longing for a world that ought to be.”
Leave a Reply