I Met Michelle Obama and This is What I Learned

Words aren’t enough to describe the pure energy and inspirational atmosphere that was present at today’s event hosted by Plan International Canada and Economic Club of Canada where the former First Lady of United States of America, Michelle Obama discussed about the importance of gender equality. The event brought together exceptional world leaders and the youth population to address this global problem altogether. I was one of the fortunate students to be able to personally hear Mrs. Obama speak and participated in the #EqualityTalks with all the attendees present. Thank you to CPA Ontario for hosting me in this very remarkable step towards change.

The event housed some of Canada’s biggest leaders and advocates for change in gender equality. Before Mrs. Michelle Obama started her panel discussion we had the honour of welcoming Madame Sophie Gregoire Trudeau (she prefers to be called just Sophie) on stage to also address some important facts on gender equality towards women and especially their right towards education.

“$12 trillion could be added to global GDP by advancing gender equality” ~ Mrs. Sophie Trudeau

These are cold hard facts that need to be emphasized again and again until all of our nation leaders realize that investing in girls education is an investment towards our future. I am one of the lucky girls around the world who is blessed with proper education and an equal opportunity to have a successful career yet I am the minority. It saddens me that for most girls around the world the reality is underage marriage, gender biases towards only funding boys education and the list goes on and on. That is why girls like me need to stand up for the rights of girls around the globe who can’t stand up for themselves. We need to give a voice to those who are hushed silent only because they are female. I will quote Mrs. Sophie Trudeau again, “For those who can’t stand, we will stand.”

On a side note I was able to briefly meet and hug our country’s most inspiring woman! (insert fan-girling here)

The main highlight was hearing the inspirational and nation wide role-model for all young girls, Mrs. Michelle Obama answer some of the most pressing issues regarding gender inequality. For me personally, it was empowering enough just being in the same room as Mrs. Obama. On stage Mrs. Obama was joined by Rhiannon Traill, the CEO of The Economic Club of Canada in a interview style based discussion.

The discussion covered topics from racism, education, social media and Mrs. Obama’s own challenges in her life. We learnt from Mrs. Obama’s inspiring story that labels never define who are, it is what you do, what actions you take in life that speak for who you are as a person. She grew up in the Southside of Chicago with parents who did not attend college yet she did not let this define her, she worked hard to graduate from 2 of the best universities in the world (Harvard and Princeton) and get to where she is today. She did not let the opinions of others hold her back and let her accomplishments speak for themselves to all the haters. Her story is one every girl admires and with a role-model like Michelle Obama all girls know that we should never settle for less or sell ourselves short because we too can dominate our own education just the same as men.

Her passion for gender equality and equal education for women was seen clearly as she empowered everyone in the room to stay resilient and to own our stories, demand the education we deserve and work towards the opportunities that comes with hard work. Mrs. Obama spoke up about racism and how it is never about us, it is about the fear of the unknown, the colour of our skin will never change but we can help change this fear instilled in people who are afraid losing something, whatever that is when we challenge the barriers society puts us in.

“You can’t make yourself feel small because other people don’t know how to feel big” ~ Michelle Obama

Mrs. Michelle Obama also taught all the youths in the room an important lesson on how to use social media responsibly, she encouraged everyone to be more thoughtful about what posts are made online. Not every thought or feeling needs to be shared with the rest of the world. We have to remember to be mindful when using social media, it is a tool that can either make us or break us and we have to be careful.

My experience at the Obama Luncheon was absolutely phenomenal, I had the opportunity to hear the most influential women speak about gender inequality. I was able to meet with both like-minded adults and youth who all care about creating change. I thoroughly enjoyed the event with great food and just great people. I was also lucky enough to meet and get a picture with Jagmeet Singh, the leader of the NDP party and truly another inspirational leader.

My 3 key takeaways from this experience are:

• Never let other people hold you back from the life you deserve, gender should not be a limitation but an asset because educating a women can help change the world, the human spirit has no gender.
• The change starts within us, no one person can create change it’s the effort from all of us, we need both men and women working together to mitigate gender inequality.
• Every one of us can create change, we should always stay resilient and fight for the human race and implement this in our youth and empower them to fight for a better future.