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Graduation 2020: Student Speaker Nadhira Nuraini Afifa, Master of Public Health - YouTube
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Thank you, Michelle.
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It is now my great honor to
introduce this year's student
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speaker, Nadhira Afifa.
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Each year a
graduating student is
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selected by a panel of
students, staff, and faculty
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to represent the
graduating class.
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Nadhira is receiving a master
of public health degree
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from the Department of
Global Health and Population,
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with a concentration
in nutrition.
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Earlier this year she
traveled to Tanzania
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to work on malnutrition issues
among in-school adolescents.
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Right after graduation she will
be joining the global fight
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against COVID-19, working with
the government in Jakarta,
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Indonesia, to address
some of the country's
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most pressing health issues, the
coronavirus pandemic included.
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Please join me in
welcoming Nadhira Afifa.
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Good afternoon, everyone.
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Greetings to Dean Williams,
faculty, staff, and alumni,
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and to the class of 2020.
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Congratulations.
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Congratulations to our parents,
friends, and loved ones,
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without whom today
would not be as special,
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as it is a day we have
all earned and should
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cherish together.
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Let me ask you a question.
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How many of you,
when you were little
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and you were asked
what you wanted to do,
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said public health professional?
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Me neither.
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Yet we end up here.
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I would never forget the
first day of orientation
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at this school.
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I ate my lunch in the
bathroom stall with my feet
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on the toilet seat so no one
would know that I was there.
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Back then, I was so
afraid of everything.
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Above all, the coffee breaks.
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I was so nervous about
having to do this small talk.
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I didn't know what to say.
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I was afraid of saying
something wrong.
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I was afraid of
being seen different.
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Even by just wearing
a hijab, I already
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made my identity
clear, without even
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need to tell anyone
what I believe in.
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I had seen a lot of news
around Islamophobia,
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and it concerned me.
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However, it was just my
second week at school
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when my perception
began to change.
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I found a praying room
downstairs.
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Surprisingly,
Harvard provides us
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with a very convenient
praying room
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equipped with all
things we need for praying.
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What made it even
more special, it
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was my Jewish
friend who showed me
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the room, because he saw me
praying under the emergency
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stairs.
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Equality, inclusivity, unity.
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I cannot think of any better
place I could learn it all
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but here.
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Little by little,
Harvard Chan and all
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people inside has become my
new home, 10,000 miles away
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from my original one.
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Albeit slowly, I came back
to be a confident person
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my mom has raised me to be.
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Mama has always been
the one who inspires me.
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She's the youngest of 11
siblings, born and raised
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by farmers in a rural
Sumatran island in Indonesia.
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Farmers kids didn't go
to school those days.
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Her sisters and
brothers worked very
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hard to get mama to college, and
she didn't take it for granted.
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When I was a kid, mama taught
me an important lesson in life.
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Dream high because our
only limits is our minds.
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That is what keeps her going
through the tough times.
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Despite being
underprivileged, mama
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has raised three children who
all completed master's degrees.
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The value that mama taught
me keeps echoing all my life.
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She has raised me from a student
in a small town in Indonesia
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to a graduate from
the best public health
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school in the world.
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However, I will not stop here.
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Today is only the beginning
of our bigger journey,
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and I encourage you all to
promise that we will not
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an impact to the world through public health.
stop ourselves to live higher,
contribute more, and make
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an impact to the world
through public health.
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to save the lives of millions and improve
Public health provides
us with the privilege
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to save the lives of
millions and improve
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the health and longevity of
generations and generations
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to come.
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It is only through
public health that we
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can see now the
entire countries have
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been forgetting
their differences
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and pooling their resources.
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Beneath the gloomy, dramatic
coronavirus headlines,
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there are countless tales of
collaborations and dedications.
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At this time of
crisis, we realize
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that no matter how privileged
we are or no matter
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where we come from, we are
exposed to the same risks
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that, only through helping
each other, we will survive.
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For a moment, people are united
through public health efforts,
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despite the difference in
ethnicity, nationality,
or spirituality.
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My sisters and brothers, you
have chosen to be here today
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because you are called to
serve, to dignify the lives
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of people you've never even met
or you may never, ever meet.
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So, let me change the question.
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How many of you, now
that you've finished
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Harvard, will proudly say "I
am glad to be a public health
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professional"?
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Class of 2020, welcome to
the often exciting, sometimes
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exhausting, rarely appreciated,
but always important
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work of public health.
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Thank you.
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