Translator: Allie Russell Reviewer: Michael Nystrom
Sometimes we don’t realise how our words can have such an impact on others
as well as ourselves.
Hello, my name is Rebeca Schürenkämper -
they said it correctly -
and I want to talk about something I learnt which is very important to me.
Until recently, I used to think I wasn’t an intelligent person.
Ever since I was young, I used to think this,
and I would ask myself these questions daily:
Am I capable?
Will I be able to?
What will they do?
Will they change the world?
But the truth is I also wanted to change the world.
I want to leave my mark somewhere.
But how would I do this if my teachers made me believe I wasn’t capable
and that what I wanted to do wasn’t important?
Even my classmates told me this on one occasion,
and the truth is I don’t blame them,
as it is what we were taught when we were young.
And I know this was because I wasn’t the best at certain subjects.
But I also know that I was very good at some others.
It’s just that they didn’t notice.
They were going to change the world.
I didn’t even question it. I affirmed it.
They said these things to me so much that I believed them and I acted like it.
And therefore, I didn’t study what I really wanted to study.
Nothing against design -
I love it. I enjoy painting.
But in that moment, I didn’t believe I could do what I’m doing now.
And I don’t know whether you know this, but 80% of students in Mexico
don’t know what to study when they finish school.
And, of course, how could they?
How many times have we heard someone say:
“My dad wants me to pursure a real career,”
making a career in art seem like a useless career.
Even friends and classmates, labelling these careers as though they were easy.
And if they are easy, it is because they are not for intelligent people.
Even labelling careers according to gender -
how many times have we heard the phrase: “This is a man’s career?
How are you going to study engineering as a woman?”
And vice versa for men as well.
We even end up comparing universities.
It’s as if it were more important to study in one over the other.
And 40% of these young people in Mexico end up choosing the wrong career,
and this is because they are influenced by what their parents tell them,
but even more so by their friends.
This is because we define intelligence as a way of being,
as if you had to have a proper physical appearance,
or if you had to dress in a certain way
and with an appropriate personality,
fulfilling a role.
And this puts a lot of pressure on everyone,
and therefore we are comparing ourselves so much.
We compare careers and everything we do
because we end up thinking that we aren’t intelligent.
But we want young people to be the future -
we always say it, don’t we?
And how are they going to be the future if we make them believe they are not,
when they really are the present?
They are already doing it.
Except we use words of rejection and failure with them, and they believe it.
They think they are incapable and don’t have this intelligence.
And well, on this subject, what is intelligence?
If you look it up, there are actually lots of definitions of intelligence.
Some say it is understanding problems, reasoning and resolving them,
but the truth is that
there is no exact definition of intelligence.
However, psychologist Howard Gardner
came up with the theory of multiple intelligences,
where he maintains that all forms of intelligence are equally important,
they are unique and different in their own way,
and they are up here.
No one is more intelligent than anyone else.
We are simply different.
I am going to give you an example:
There are two identical twin brothers, who grew up in the same house,
had the same education,
the same school, the same friends, and the same experiences.
The two of them are going to have two different types of intelligence.
Maybe they went to the same parties and events,
but perhaps at this party, one twin had an incredible time.
It was the best day of his life.
But the other one only had a so-so day
and didn’t enjoy it so much.
And at that moment, they both learnt something.
Perhaps what this twin learnt, the other will learn in the future
or has already learnt.
Or perhaps the reverse.
Time and learning are relative.
Another example is when you are 25 or 30 years old.
This doesn’t mean you know less than someone 50 or 80 years old.
Or the other way around.
We never stop learning, but we believe adults have already learnt everything,
so we always hold young people back.
Even parents -
We forget that our parents and grandparents are maturing
and learning every day.
We don’t allow growth, and we don’t let ourselves grow.
Talking about ages, two stories come to mind:
When Billie Eilish was 17 years old,
she was already one of the most well-known, important and famous singers.
At this young age, she was nominated for a Grammy
and was pleading not to win.
They even zoomed in on her, and she was going: “Don’t be me, please!”
And this was because she knew people would attack her for it
as they didn’t think she deserved this award -
because of her age, they didn’t think she had enough experience.
The chatter was so loud she started believing it herself.
She really thought that she didn’t deserve it,
when, in fact, she did.
Another story that comes to mind
is about a 26-year-old woman who is outstanding at what she does,
very hardworking, is very experienced, has everything up here,
and is one of the most creative people.
She finally had the opportunity to be a boss.
If you knew that she was about 20, and he was 37 years old,
then you’d think he should be the boss.
One of the many comments they said about her was due to her age
because they thought that she didn’t have the experience.
When in reality, she had everything.
From both these stories, I learnt and understood something very important:
it makes us very afraid, and it terrifies us to think
that we are no longer ourselves,
and we think we have run out of time to fulfill our dreams.
And by dreams, I don’t mean being the most successful, famous,
the richest or the best at what you do,
but simply doing something you love: studying, painting,
learning to play the guitar or whatever else.
We think it’s over.
And think about it, when we see an 80-year-old learning something new
and going to classes, whatever it may be, it shocks us, even if you don’t think so.
Maybe one day, you were told that, or you had never thought of it,
but when you see it, it shocks you a little
because we think this person must have already done absolutely everything
and must have learnt everything.
But once again, time and learning are relative.
We all learn something new every day.
And the other way around:
we see a 19-year-old more than capable of doing everything,
who has their life already planned out,
has all the creativity
and everything they need to have the success that they deserve,
but we hold them back
because we think that they have no idea what they are doing.
We don’t let ourselves grow, and we stop others from doing so,
especially young people.
It frightens us a lot.
Going back to intelligence,
I truly used to think I wasn’t an intelligent person.
And I realised this once at a party a long time ago.
I was much younger,
and we were playing a game where we all pointed at someone at the same time.
We sat in a circle
and took turns to say something like: “Who is the prettiest?”
and everyone pointed at the same time, some at the same person, some at others.
The funniest, the biggest party animal…
And on one turn, someone said: “Who is the most stupid?”
And they pointed at me.
Everyone pointed at me.
Not even one person pointed at somebody else.
From that day onwards, I decided to wear that label
and forgot all of my capabilities.
And I didn’t study what I really wanted to study.
I remember this story, and I realised that I was part of this 40%.
Because I believed this word, and I thought I wasn’t capable,
not just because of them but many of the people I knew.
Recently, a follower sent me a message
where she said thanks to me, thanks to the foundation I belong to,
and thanks to our words, her sister did not commit suicide.
And I never thought that I was going to achieve something like that.
We saved a life with just a few words.
I saved a life.
I couldn’t believe it
because I truly thought I would never be capable of doing anything.
That day I learnt many things
because I ended up having a nervous breakdown, an anxiety attack
for not knowing my identity.
And sometimes, it still happens to me
because they keep using that power on me, and I allow it,
instead of turning it around and starting to use the power of my words on me.
The day I received that message, I knew I wanted to change the world
without realising I was already doing it.
Maybe as a teenager, I wasn’t going to have a future in mathematics
but a future with my words instead.
Maybe I wouldn’t change the entire world,
but I would change the life of one person.
And now I am here with all of you talking about my experiences,
something I never thought I’d do, which was a dream for me,
that I never thought I would be capable of doing.
But I am celebrating my intelligence with you,
together with all of your intelligence.
Because this is why we came into the world:
to share our intelligence in order to change the world.
Maybe some through science, some through emotions, others through art,
but that is why we come to share it.
And to all of you, how do you use this power?
How do you use the power of your words?
Because as Albert Einstein once said:
“If you judge a fish by its ability to climb a tree,
it will live its whole life believing that it is stupid.”
Thank you.
(Applause)