the TEDx speech that changed my life.

the tedx speech that changed my life.

I had exactly two hours to prepare for a "TEDx" speech that should have been done two weeks prior. Yet, there I stood: no script, no microphone, no podium. I possessed nothing but raw, valuable experience.

And so, I spoke on body shaming. It was the only truth I had truly felt. the only fragment of my story I believed could be genuinely impactful. For seven minutes, I surrendered to my memories(or trauma for that matter). It wasn't a calculated performance; it was simply an unfiltered expression of "me."

It was a narrative I had witnessed through my own eyes, endured with my own heart, and punctuated with my own tears. I spoke with the underlying certainty that most in that room had lived it, too.

I closed the speech with a poem, titled ''The art of perfection"-

the 'art of perfection' little me knew was a tall and slim girl with flawless skin,
who would tell her that beauty is what lies within.
who would tell her that being different was not a sin.
and that if having a good heart was for the win,
she would be the best to have ever been.

dARLING, BEAUTY LIES in YOURSELF AND NOT what's REFLECTING IN THE MIRROR;
SOMETHING THAT DEFINES YOU IS ANYTHING BUT YOUR FIGURE.
OTHER THAN A CLEAN HEART,
YOU CAN'T FIND ANYTHING THAT'S PRETTIER.
BE HUMAN, AND OF THE 'ART OF PERFECTION', you'll BE THE WINNER.

As the room erupted into a standing applause, I assumed the moment had reached its peak. Or at least I had. I was wrong. The following two days were a blur of contemplation as I absorbed the appreciation of every teacher I encountered. I was requested to repeat the performance. i did. For someone who had previously existed in shadows, the sudden weight of that recognition was staggering.

Four years have passed. I have just closed the chapter on high school, yet I find myself returning to those very moments before every major milestone in my life. That experience is the foundation of who I am today; it is the catalyst for everything I have built since.

It is the memory that keeps me grounded, yet entirely emancipated.