Instead of feeling nervous, I felt calm as I prepared to take the stage as a speaker for one of the prestigious youth-led movements, TEDx Youth. I was not there to perform, but I was there to share a piece of my story and a promise I made to myself years ago.
The red carpet was waiting alongside the bright red TEDx letters for me to take my place and tell about my journey of living in the moment.
When I was eleven, I witnessed something that changed me forever. A girl being harassed at a busy intersection. I was scared and helpless. That feeling stayed with me, and I vowed never to feel that powerless again. That moment became the spark that eventually led to DFEND, my initiative to teach self-defense and safety awareness to girls.
As I shared my journey, from learning martial arts to training over 6,000 girls, I spoke about what it really means to stay in the moment. For me, it was not just about mindfulness, but also about courage. It is about facing fear, standing up when it is easier to stay silent, and turning pain into purpose.
When I spoke about the girls who told me how DFEND changed their lives, allowing them to walk home without fear, join sports teams, and find their voice, I realized how far this journey had come.
The talk was not just about self-defense. It was about self-belief.
It was about how a single moment, that I experienced become a movement.
Walking off the stage today day, I felt a quiet sense of fulfilment. Because sometimes, the most powerful stories are not about changing the whole world at once. They are about changing one life at a time, starting with my own.
TEDx Youth Talk
