“Use the potential, talent, and passion you possess to be the change you want to see in the world – Angely”
I was born, raised, and had been living my whole life in Cambodia, a country that has been constantly reforming after the destructive history of the Khmer Rouge genocide which did not only killed millions of people but also leaves many damages on this once-prosperous country and its citizens. The trauma and the intense oppression from the genocide leave the older generation fearful of new possibilities, revolutionary ideas, and innovative ways to help change this country. The stereotypes, discriminations, and traditions of our culture keep all of us in a fixed mindset-box which contradicts the possibilities of new technological and innovative solutions to the major problems in our society. For instance, the gender gaps in Cambodian society that discriminate women from pursuing careers in entrepreneurship, technological, architectural and scientifical fields which results in the lack of human resources that results in the decrease of the development of the whole nation. Due to these inequalities and gaps I have seen in this once-prosperous country, I strongly believe that fair and equal distribution of career opportunities and rights for people, especially those who belong to certain racism or gender, will benefit the country and the world as a whole and leads to a better future for humankind.
In our society, there is this invisible stereotype that lives inside the mindset of people that limits girls, people with disability, LGBTQ community or people with different skin colors and religions from being who they are, limits their opportunities and choices, take away their rights and freedom. As an example, most people would think that men are better coders and business managers than women, which therefore results in fewer opportunities giving to girls in order to pursue these fields. However, I believe women are as talented and can be as successful as men if given the same education, career opportunity, and freedom. If society can encourage all kinds of people, regardless of their identity, all nations would bolster because of the increase in human resources.
Promoting opportunities and encourage girls and children towards participating in programming, entrepreneurship, and science.
Technovation 2019 (1st place from Junior Division)
This school year (2018-2019), I and the other four girls built a team (The Credos) for a business and coding competition called Technovation. This competition aims to enhance girls’ interest and skills in entrepreneurship and technology by creating a 12-week program to teach girls both of these skills. What is even more special about Technovation is the competitions that are held both nationally and internationally that allow girls to compete, pitch their business ideas and showcase the application that they have developed throughout the course. Everyone who has participated in the regional pitching events was blown away by the innovative ideas, confidence, and professionalism and especially, the entrepreneurship and technology mindsets that all Cambodian of those courageous Cambodian girls have shown. Because of the hard work we put in, there was a successful achievement that happened that day of the national pitch event.
Our team (The Credos) won the 1st place from the Junior division, even though we are just 13-14! This achievement and the overall program are great inspiration for young start-up developers and coders. Most importantly, it debunks the stereotype that girls aren’t as talented coders and entrepreneurs as boys and showcases that the stereotype that girls or children aren’t talented coders and entrepreneurs is definitely just a one-sided story.
First Lego League Robotics in Singapore: Developing the Possibility of Change for the Astronauts and the Future of Technology.
In March 2019, I was a part of the Robotics team that went to compete in Singapore with hundreds of other teams from around the world. There were 5 girls and 5 boys that worked together on this project. The FLL competition requires students to program the robots to complete missions which include researching problems that the astronauts are facing when they go out in explorations that are within our solar system and coming up with ideas to solve these problems for them. This project highly encourages students, especially girls who normally can’t find opportunities to work on technology-related and science-related projects. It gives all of us a chance to play with block-coding, robot controlling and researching on real scientific problems.
This project shows me that girls and young students are a strong force that supports and pushes the whole team towards success. We can research about scientific problems and come up with innovative ideas to help astronauts with their problems, and more importantly, we can embrace and promote collaboration in the team well.
Our creative solutions are presented to the judges, and many appreciations, astonishments, and supports are shown from the smile of the judges when we confidently presented our project to them. Finally, we won an award from the competition which is ‘Overseas Best Performing Team’ and received a trophy and medals. This success is not just about winning the competition, but also about how students and girls can develop the possibility of change and have the potential to create a better world.
Young Students are Capable and Passionate Raise Awareness about Necessary Change
Almost all events, conferences, campaigns or other social activities consist of mostly adults, trying to raise awareness and encourage change in communities, but I believe young students have the ability to do the same, with their open-minded ideas and the vision of a better future.
Cambodian Model United Nations Conference, The solutions worth implementing.
In May 2019, there is a Cambodian Model United Nations Conference that is organized by three senior girls from the Liger Leadership Academy and participated by young high-school students who, surprisingly, are mostly girls! It was a mind-blowing experience, with young students expressing their concerns towards global issues and sharing ideas towards making a change, not only in their community but also for common good for the world as a whole.
Each student came to the conference with a country that they will represent as delegates. The students represent their country very well while debating on the different resolutions on each of the issues. I was the delegate of the United Kingdom who was debating in General Assembly 3, which covered the topic of Gender Equality for the LGBTQ community and the Question of Improving Air Quality Throughout the Globe.
Despite the young age, students took initiatives to come up to the podium and presented their ideas with formal language, respect towards racism and differences in different countries, especially, their ideas were very practical for realistic practices for governments around the world. I believe youths are a strong force for our future, so creating opportunities and encouragement for them to express their ideas and solutions for global issues can be a big benefit for mankind.
Ideas Empowered at ISPP TEDx Talk
Where are the best resources for creative ideas? Where can we find great and inspiring empowerment? Well, the TEDx Talks presented in the theme of Ideas Empowered that are delivered on December, 1st, 2019 is amongst the most mind-changing presentations you can ever find in Cambodia. Young students delivered presentations that showcase their perspectives and concerns towards the different field of issues, from Environmental Topics, Literature and Culture topics to Growth-Mindset, Stereotypes and Discriminations Topics. I was one of the speakers of this event, and I was talking about Empowering Literature in Cambodia because I believe that literature has the power to change lives, encourage, and embrace voices from people, and change the mindsets of the society. I talked about the importance of reading and preserving literature and how it can help us to achieve both personal and social goods. (To know more about my talk, check out this portfolio post)
The tremendous flow of different ideas and mindsets from the bright young presenters shook the audience to the core, leaving them refreshed with new perspectives towards society and life. raising awareness about global issues, helping them to unlock their potential from the part of their mind they have never been aware of, encouraging audiences to step out of their comfort zone and to start reaching for their dreams and a life well-lived, and more advantages that the audience experience. It was one of the most inspiring events for me because seeing the bright young students that are the key to our future generation filled with such enthusiasm to change the world into a better place is just what we need for this world.
It is understandable that Cambodia or other countries, that have been through great disasters in their history, are fearful of changes and revolutions in ideas and mindsets, for instance, stereotypes or discriminations against people with a certain age, gender or race. However, I wish to encourage everyone to start embracing new ideas, mindsets, solutions, and technologies that can lead our world to a better future. Instead of protesting those new concepts, try to consider its advantages that can help our world. Encourage voices from all kinds of people, regardless of their age, gender or race. If we want a bright future for the next generation, we need to start taking action and creating the change right now! Everything starts from ourselves, so begin to explore your own potential, talent, and passion and how can you use that to contribute to change this world. How can you raise awareness about change, encourage change, develop the possibility of change in your very own community? I believe that each and every one human being has a unique potential to be a part of the change. We are important change-makers and we have the ability to do so. Therefore, we need to work and collaborate together to encourage the possibility of a bright future for the next generation.