Marianna Atencio, who works for the NBC news agency across the world, traveled from Hitai to Hong Kong. In her speech, she tells us how the people she met on her travels and the experience of her emigration taught that the only common thing everyone has is that he is a "human".
screenshot By : Moro

Marianna Atencio, who works for the NBC news agency across the world, traveled from Hitai to Hong Kong. In her speech, she tells us how the people she met on her travels and the experience of her emigration taught that the only common thing everyone has is that he is a "human".



I am a journalist.
My job is to talk to people from all walks of life,
all over the world.
Today, I want to tell you
Why did I decide to do this with my life and what I learned.
My story begins in Caracas, Venezuela,
In South America, where it originated;
The place was for me and would always stay
Full of magic and wonder.
From a very early age,
My parents wanted me to have a broader vision of the world.
I remember once when I was about seven years old,
My father came to me and said,
"Mariana, I'll send you and your little sister ..."
- Who was six years old -
"... to a place nobody speaks Spanish.
I want you to try different cultures. "
Benefits of spending a whole summer
In this summer camp in the United States,
Emphasize a small phrase
I did not notice much interest at the time:
"You never know what the future holds."
At the same time, in my seven-year-old mind,
I was thinking, we were getting to a summer camp in Miami.
Maybe it would be better,
We will go a little north, to Orlando,
Where Mickey Mouse lived.
I got really excited.
My father had a slightly different plan.
From Caracas, we sent to Brainerd, Minnesota.
Mickey Mouse was not there,
Without a cell phone, Snapchat or Instagram,
I did not find any information
We got there,
One of the first things I noticed
The other children's hair was several shades of blonde,
Most of them had blue eyes.
In the meantime, that's what we thought.
On the first night, the camp manager gathered everyone around the campfire
And he said,
"Children, we have a very international camp this year;
Atlantis is here from Venezuela. "
The other children looked at us as if we were from another planet.
They were asking us things like,
"Do you know what hamburgers are?"
Or, "Do you go to school on the back of a donkey or a boat?"
I will try to answer my broken English,
They were just laughing.
I know they did not try to worry.
They were just trying to understand who we were,
And establish a relationship with the world they knew.
We can either be like them,
Or like characters from a book full of adventures,
Such as Aladdin or the Book of the jungle.
We certainly do not look like them,
We did not speak their language,
We were different.
When she is seven years old, this is painful.
But I had my little sister to take care of,
She was crying every day in the summer camp.
So I decided to put a brave face,
Embrace all I can about the way of American life.
We later called what he called "summer camp experience"
For eight years in different cities not heard by many Americans.
What I remember most about these moments was when I finally clicked with someone.
Making friends was a special bonus.
Everyone wants to feel appreciated and accepted,
We think this should happen automatically, but that does not happen.
When you are different, you have to work on belonging.
You'll either be really helpful, intelligent, funny,
Anything that is wonderful for the audience you want to hang out with.
Later, when I was in high school,
My father expanded his summer plan,
From Caracas sent me to Wallingford, Connecticut,
For the secondary school year.
This time, I remember daydreams on board
About the American high school experience - with a closet.
It could have been perfect,
As in my favorite TV show: "Saved by Bell".
I got there and they told me
My colleague in the assigned room anxiously awaits.
I opened the door,
There she was, sitting on the bed,
Her name was Fatima, a Muslim from Bahrain,
It was not what I expected.
Maybe I was disappointed when I looked at her
Because I did not do much to hide it.
See, when I was a teenager, I wanted to join more,
I wanted to be popular,
Maybe you have a friend for a concert,
I felt that Fatima had just reached the road
With its shyness and strict dress rules.
I did not realize I was feeling it
Like children in the summer camp made me feel.
This was equivalent to high school asking her,
"Do you know what hamburgers are?"
I have consumed myself
Unable to put myself in her shoes.
I must be honest with you,
We only lasted a few months together,
Later sent to live with a counselor
Rather than other students.
I remember thinking, "Oh, you'll be fine.
It's quite different. "
As you can see, when we call someone else,
It deprives them of humanity in some way.
They become "the other".
They do not deserve our time, not our problem,
In fact, the "other" may be the cause of our problems.
So, how do we get to know our blind sites?
Start by understanding what makes you different,
By adopting those qualities.
Only then can you begin to appreciate what makes others special.
I remember when this hit me.
It was two months later.



This talk was delivered at the TEDx conference using the TED conference format, but organized by the community in an independent manner