Here I Stand.

I am now home and settled. On the flight home and as I was relating my experience back to my family, I was able to fully appreciate the opportunity I had to attend this conference. On the very first day, I was among a large group of kids who I knew nothing about except the three that I came with and were familiar with from school.

Over the following two days, I made connections with at least 5% of them (meaning the 64 other former strangers that I was with in my family group , GO BASS). I was able to hear and share stories, experiences, viewpoints and connections with these people that I became very close with (it's amazing what can happen in two days). We thought each other about diversity because no one of us in that very small meeting room, meant for a capacity of 45, were exactly the same. Needless to say we became very close, and not only because of the fact we were crammed into a tight space.

To be honest, I didn't really know what to expect when I came here but I can also honestly say that I learned something new about the people that I share this world with. I know its an completely automatic instinct to judge people and I think anyone who says they don't judge is not being completely honest because we all do it. The only thing we can do is to refrain from imposing our judgements on others and embrace them for who they are. We cannot grow as one race (the HUMAN race) if we destroy each other with our prejudices; so our job as a people is to try and find that one thing that connects us.

One moment that I thought was amazing was in our closing ceremonies. One kid, and i'm sad to say I can't remember his name, stood up to the mic to tell his story. He began to talk and and he said something and I had to briefly turn to the girl next to me and ask, what did he say. She didn't know either. I then turned back around and listened very hard and carefully to what he was saying so I didn't miss anything as he proceeded to tell the 1000+ around us about his struggle with autism as a teenage boy. He told us how he was not very popular at his school, had never had a girl friend, and never kissed a girl like many is age already had. At the end of his comment he sang a a few words from the song "Here I Stand" by Usher to tell everyone the sense of community, love, and family he felt from the conference

Forever yours, here i stand

Here i stand.

For this exercise, we were supposed to stay completely silent in order to feel the power of silence but after the boy had spoken, everyone gave him a standing ovation and you felt the power of acceptance that was in the room. There was no way that anyone could just sit down after realizing how big of an effect this conference can have on an individual. It almost brought tears to my eyes to just hear about his struggle in everyday life.

Because of this I realized something. Usually when people have disabilities, people automatically assume that they're dumb. This one person changed my view forever. That was one of the most well put together, heartfelt, spur-of-the-moment, intelligent moments of public speaking I have ever heard in my life. Because of this one person I can say that I will think twice about a person who may be different in my life. This one person's moment of sharing is forever imprinted on me. And this one person is a perfect example of why we shouldn't judge. Because the fact of the matter is that he is not dumb at all. I, a person without any disabilities (I am blessed to say), could never get up in front of all those people and put together something like that.

This was an amazing experience that I gained new perspective and new friends from. I am a changed and diverse individual because of it.

-Kaya