Education Beyond Privileged | Fathia Fairuza | TEDxSampoernaUniversity

Summary

The speaker, Faia, from a middle-class background, challenges the notion that privilege alone dictates one's ability to pursue higher education. Through personal experiences, including a discrimination incident in Spain and her subsequent activism, Faia emphasizes the importance of education in shaping one's life purpose and empowering individuals to overcome their backgrounds. Her journey from a public school in Indonesia to Columbia University and an internship at the UN illustrates how education can be a catalyst for change, fostering critical thinking, communication, and problem-solving skills, ultimately enabling one to redefine their future.

Takeaways

• 📚 The script emphasizes the importance of pursuing higher education as a means to transcend one's socio-economic background and achieve personal growth and opportunities.
• 🌐 The creator, Faia, shares her personal journey of studying abroad, highlighting the challenges she faced and how education empowered her to advocate for her rights.
• 🏛 The narrative challenges the misconception that only those born into privilege can pursue higher education, asserting that determination and resilience can overcome economic barriers.
• 👳 Faia's experience in Spain, where she was told to remove her hijab, illustrates the importance of standing up for one's identity and rights, a lesson she learned from her education.
• 📉 The script discusses the concept of emotional intelligence, highlighting its significance in leadership and how Faia applied it to navigate her conflict with the teacher in Spain.
• 💪 Faia's story demonstrates resilience in the face of rejection from universities in Indonesia, showing how persistence and a growth mindset can lead to new opportunities.
• 🎓 Education is portrayed as a tool for creating life purpose and setting goals, as Faia discovered her mission to ensure quality education for all through her studies and experiences.
• 🌟 The idea of 'IKIGAI' is introduced, which is a concept that combines passion, skill, payment, and contribution to the world, and Faia found her purpose in human rights activism.
• 🏆 Faia's achievements, including founding a nonprofit and being accepted to study at prestigious universities, underscore the transformative power of education in personal and professional development.
• 🔍 The script underscores the necessity of 21st-century skills such as critical thinking, communication, and problem-solving, which Faia sought to sharpen through further education.
• 🌈 The final takeaway is that education is a catalyst for change, providing individuals from all backgrounds the chance to improve their lives and achieve their dreams, as exemplified by Faia's journey from Indonesia to New York.

Q & A

What common criticism do creators sharing their experiences about higher education abroad often face?

They often face criticism in the comments section suggesting that they are privileged.

What is typically meant by 'privilege' in the context of pursuing higher education abroad?

Privilege often refers to one's economic status, specifically individuals born into wealthy families.

What background does Faia come from?

Faia comes from a middle-class family where her father holds a college degree and her mother is a high school graduate.

Why does Faia believe background should not define one's future opportunities?

Faia believes that background should not define one's future opportunities because everyone can pursue higher education and improve their life regardless of their economic status.

What challenging experience did Faia face during her high school exchange program in Madrid?

Faia was asked to remove her hijab by a teacher and was threatened with expulsion if she did not comply.

How did Faia respond to the demand to remove her hijab?

Faia initiated a petition against the demand, which gained over 3,200 signatures worldwide, highlighting the discrimination she faced.

What role does education play in Faia's fight for her rights?

Education taught Faia about her rights, emotional intelligence, and how to strategically address injustices, which helped her in creating a movement against the discrimination she faced.

What concept did Faia encounter at her university that helped her define her purpose?

Faia encountered the concept of 'ikigai,' which combines what you love, what you're good at, what you can be paid for, and what the world needs.

What organization did Faia create to support underprivileged students in Indonesia?

Faia created a non-profit organization called Shape Your Life Indonesia, which helps underprivileged high school students pursue higher education through free mentorship programs and scholarships.

How did Faia's education contribute to her acceptance into a master's program and eventually an internship at the UN?

Faia's education equipped her with critical thinking, communication, and problem-solving skills, leading to her acceptance into prestigious universities and eventually securing an internship at the UN.

What is the main message Faia wants to convey about education?

Faia emphasizes that education is a catalyst for change, offering individuals the opportunity to improve their lives and achieve their goals, regardless of their background.

Outlines

00:00

😔 Societal Judgments on Privilege and Education

The speaker, Faia, discusses the common misconception that pursuing higher education abroad is a privilege of the wealthy. She challenges this notion by sharing her own background as a middle-class individual with parents who did not finish college. Faia emphasizes that one's background should not define their potential or limit their opportunities. She recounts her experience as a 17-year-old in a Spanish high school, where she faced discrimination for wearing a hijab, and how she fought for her rights, highlighting the importance of education in fostering awareness of one's rights and emotional intelligence.

05:01

📚 The Power of Education in Overcoming Challenges

Faia shares her journey of resilience and growth mindset after being rejected from all Indonesian universities. She discovered opportunities for higher education in Japan and worked hard to prepare for the IELTS and university applications. This led her to be accepted into a Japanese university with a scholarship. Faia also introduces the concept of 'IKIGAI', which helped her realize her purpose as an activist for quality education. She founded a non-profit organization to support underprivileged students in Indonesia and continues to work towards her mission, demonstrating how education can empower individuals to create change.

10:03

🌟 Pursuing Higher Education and Lifelong Goals

Faia talks about her aspirations to work with the United Nations and the steps she took to achieve them, including earning a master's degree in human rights studies. She discusses the importance of setting goals and having a clear life purpose, which education helped her to establish. Despite facing rejections and setbacks, Faia remained determined and eventually received an offer to intern at the UN Office of the High Commissioner for Human Rights in New York, illustrating the transformative power of education in her life.

15:05

🚀 Education as a Catalyst for Change and Personal Growth

In the final paragraph, Faia concludes her story by emphasizing the transformative impact of education on her life. She reflects on her journey from a public high school graduate to a master's student at Columbia University and an intern at the UN, underscoring that education is a catalyst for change. Faia encourages others not to let their background limit their future opportunities and to pursue education to the highest level possible, as it equips individuals with essential skills for the 21st century and the power to change their lives.

Keywords

💡Privilege

Privilege refers to advantages or benefits granted to individuals based on various factors such as economic status or family background. In the video, privilege is often perceived as being born into a wealthy family, which contrasts with the speaker's middle-class upbringing. The concept is used to discuss the misconceptions surrounding privilege and education opportunities.

💡Higher Education

Higher education is the level of education beyond high school, including colleges and universities. The speaker emphasizes its transformative power, sharing personal experiences of pursuing higher education abroad despite financial and social challenges. The narrative highlights the importance of education in overcoming obstacles and achieving personal goals.

💡Emotional Intelligence

Emotional intelligence is the ability to understand and manage one's own emotions and the emotions of others. The speaker attributes their successful handling of discrimination in Spain to emotional intelligence, which helped in creating a peaceful yet impactful petition. This skill is presented as crucial for leadership and personal growth.

💡Resilience

Resilience is the capacity to recover quickly from difficulties. The speaker illustrates resilience through their determination to continue pursuing higher education despite being rejected from all universities in Indonesia. Resilience is depicted as a key trait that enabled the speaker to seek opportunities abroad and achieve their goals.

💡Growth Mindset

A growth mindset is the belief that abilities and intelligence can be developed through dedication and hard work. The speaker's journey from rejection to acceptance into a Japanese university showcases a growth mindset, emphasizing the importance of perseverance and continuous learning in achieving success.

💡Human Rights

Human rights are the basic rights and freedoms that belong to every person. The speaker's aspiration to work for the United Nations and their master's degree in human rights studies underline a commitment to ensuring these rights globally. The narrative connects education with the ability to advocate for and protect human rights.

💡Petition

A petition is a formal request for action, often supported by many signatures. The speaker initiated a petition against the discriminatory policy in Spain that required them to remove their hijab. This petition, supported by thousands worldwide, exemplifies the use of social media and collective action to fight for rights and justice.

💡Ikigai

Ikigai is a Japanese concept that means 'a reason for being.' It combines what you love, what you are good at, what you can be paid for, and what the world needs. The speaker's discovery of their ikigai—working as a human rights activist—illustrates the alignment of personal passion and professional purpose.

💡Scholarship

A scholarship is a financial award given to a student to support their education, often based on academic or other achievements. The speaker received a scholarship from Ritsumeikan Asia Pacific University and later a full scholarship from the Indonesian government for their studies at Columbia University. Scholarships are shown as vital enablers for pursuing higher education.

💡Non-Profit Organization

A non-profit organization is an entity dedicated to furthering a particular social cause without profit as its primary motive. The speaker founded 'Shape Your Life Indonesia,' which helps underprivileged students through mentorship and scholarships. This organization exemplifies the speaker's commitment to education and social impact.

Highlights

The creator discusses the misconception that pursuing higher education is only for the privileged.

Faia, the speaker, comes from a middle-class background and challenges the idea that only the privileged can pursue higher education.

Faia's mother's unfinished college degree and the impact on Faia's perspective on privilege.

The importance of not letting one's background define their future opportunities.

Faia's experience with discrimination and fighting for her rights as a Muslim woman wearing a hijab in Spain.

The role of education in teaching emotional intelligence and managing emotions.

Faia's initiative to create a petition against discrimination, demonstrating the power of education in action.

The significance of emotional intelligence in leadership positions, as highlighted by a psychologist.

Faia's resilience and growth mindset after being rejected from universities in Indonesia.

Her journey to study in Japan with a scholarship, showcasing the transformative power of education.

Faia's discovery of her life purpose through the concept of 'IKIGAI' and her decision to become an activist for education.

The establishment of the nonprofit organization 'Shape Your Life Indonesia' to support underprivileged students.

Faia's goal setting and strategic planning for her long-term objectives, influenced by her educational experiences.

The importance of critical thinking, communication, and problem-solving skills in the 21st century, as identified by Faia.

Faia's acceptance into New York University and Columbia University, and her pursuit of a master's degree to refine essential skills.

Her internship at the UN Office of the High Commissioner for Human Rights, bringing her closer to her dream of making a global impact.

Faia's belief that education is a catalyst for change and a tool for individuals to improve their lives, regardless of their background.

The empowerment message that education can change lives and should not be limited by one's background or circumstances.

Transcripts

[Music]

[Music]

scrolling through Instagram and Tik Tok

I often came across creators sharing

their experience pursuing higher

education abroad including

myself however the unfortunate reality

is that instead of getting positive

feedbacks many of the reactions appears

in the comment

sections are telling those creators that

they are

privileged but what are the privilege

that this people often refer

you privilege often preferred to one's

economic Style St typically referring to

individuals born into high economic

levels or someone born into a wealthy

family but who are we to judge because

the fact is that not everyone is born

with privilege none of us can choose

which circumstances we are born into

which families we are belong to so from

here I cannot really say that I came

from a privilege family right so my name

is faia I come from a middle class

Society My Father Here holds a college

degree and my mother attempted to finish

her college

degree however she never managed to

finish her College making her a high

school graduate so from here I cannot

really say that I'm born from a

privilege family right

however I do want to highlight that we

cannot make our backgrounds Define who

we are many people often say that they

will never be able to pursue higher

education because of their background

because they are not Bor with privilege

because they come from low economic

backgrounds or because their parents did

not pursue higher education

but how sad is that to think that your

background defines who you

are how sad is it to think that your

background can limit your future

opportunities and this is why most

people are

wrong that has become become an

misconception nowadays that your

background can Define who you

are so today I want share with you

three important things why you should

pursue higher education and why

education can change your life for the

better let me return a moment when I was

17 I participated in a high school

Exchange program to Madrid Spain and at

that time I was already wearing my

hijab I was also enrolled in a public

high school in Spain but at the end of

my first day a teacher approached me and

told me to take off my hijab it was

shocking of course I explained to my

teacher that the hijab is my identity as

a Muslim woman but still they did not

tolerate it and they would say to me

that if I did not take it off they would

threaten me to expel me from the school

it was only my first week in Madrid yet

rights to freedom of religion and

education were taken away solely because

of my hij

job can you imagine how much frustrating

that would feel to a 17-year-old girl

far away from home by herself and being

Tren to get expelled from school only

because of what she

were that felt frightening to

me but can you guess what I did how did

I

react who you thinks that I take off my

hijab you can raise your hand if you

think that I took off my

job who you thinks that I will go back

to

Indonesia who you thinks that I still

keep wearing my hij raise your

hand my 1y old self felt the need to

rights to fight for my rights so I

initiated a petition called asking Foria

to remove her hijab is discrimination on

change

or because of social media words spread

out very

quickly without one without only one

night one night I was able to gain the

support of more than 3,200 people

worldwide signing the petition and

sending their picture to me of them

handing the

sign if you ask me where did I get the

idea to create this petition to fight

for my rights I would say

education education not only teaches me

how to read how to write and how to

count but education also tell me to be

aware of the rights that I'm entitled

to and ucation also teaches me

about emotional

intelligence emotional intelligence here

is very important because it teaches me

to manage my emotion and the emotion of

others so instead of raging out of my

teacher who told me to remove my hijab I

created this a movement to explain in

the best way why their action towards me

is

wrong and you have to know that

emotional intelligence nowadays is very

crucial when a woman a psychologist that

popularized this term told us that the

common trait that most leaders have is

emotional

intelligence Roman added that it's not

that IQ or technical skills are not

important but emotional

intelligence is the prerequisite

requirements for leadership positions

like CEO or

coo so this brings me to my second

lesson about why you have to pursue

education so after completing one year

of Exchange program in Spain I have to

go back back to Indonesia and finished

my senior high

school at that time all of my classmates

were very ambitious to get accepted in

the most privileged universities in

Indonesia like then I was also studying

hard to get in accepted into

universities in

Indonesia but guess

what I get rejected at all universities

in Indonesia that I applied

of course I was insecure about my future

especially knowing my parents could not

afford me to go to private university in

Indonesia I thought maybe I need to take

a depth year and try again next

year but exactly because I know I'm not

born privileged I did not want to settle

for

l so I learned about resilience and grow

mindset to keep fight for my

future so a goodle search leads me to

find new informations about

opportunities to pursue higher education

abroad so then I decided to apply to

universities in Japan because it offers

me a tuition reduction

scholarship so then I started learning

to prepare my I test by myself I wrote

my application letter I practiced my

interview

sessions and finally sometime after my

rejection I I received an offering

letter from richon Asia pfic University

in Japan to study there with

scholarship with my story does not end

here in a class in my University I came

across

guy it is a concept for the reason for

being this concept essentially combines

what you love what you're good at what

you can be paid for and what the world

means so deling into this concept I

finally realized what my iy guy is what

my mission of being

is I want to be an activist to ensure

that every child in the world can get

their rights to Quality educations and I

want to do it through United Nations or

the UN

why because I want to create impact more

than national scale I want to create a

worldwide scale impact through the

through through the United

Nations and that exactly forfill was

what I was because I L children on what

I'm good at I'm a human rights activist

and I earned a master's degree in human

rights

studies and of course as an officer in

the United Nations I get paid because

that is my

job and that answers what the world

needs for me which is someone who can

ensure human rights for

all so knowing that I have big dreams

and big goals I would only want to

settle as an ordinary student in the

University so I came up with an idea to

create a live mapping where I wrote down

that I wanted to get a 4.0 GPA in my

first semester of

University but it never happened until

my third year of

University and here I also wrote down

that I wanted to take a Japanese a

Japanese proficiency and to level test

never happened until today but that's

okay right because the point of creating

this life meing is to get you motivated

every time you lose your

motivations and one more thing I've

always wanted to become a that X speaker

since my second year of

University and it never happened until

today but other than that I also started

working on my missions to ensure

education for all so I build a nonprofit

organization called shape your life

Indonesia we help underprivileged high

school students in Indonesia maximize

their potential and pursue higher

education through our free mentorship

programs we also raise FS to give

scholarship for those who

needs and in a way what I did in build

and shape your life is a portfolio of my

life it shows to whichever office that

I'm going to apply to that I've been

working on this Mission

already so that is how education is very

powerful right because my second crucial

reasons of why pursuing education is

important is it teaches

you how to create your life purpose

and it also teaches you to make a goal

setting skills because it teaches me to

be able to think strategically on what

steps do I need to take in order to

achieve my long-term

goals but to finally achieve those

long-term goals and how education can

finally change someone's

life there are still so many skills that

are necessary for us to have in this

21st

century good skills are CR critical

thinking skills communication

skills and problem solving

skills so I thought to myself that I

need to relearn those skills by pursuing

a master's degree so in my final

semester of University I decided to

pursue and apply for my Master's Degree

to sharpen those skills that I

needed so in 2022 I was accepted at New

York University and Columbia University

when look at it in New York where the UN

headquarters is

located I was accepted in my eth

semester where I had not even finished

my undergraduate

thesis and on top of it all I was

awarded a full right scholarship from

the Indonesian government

long story short I chose to study my

master's degree in human rights at

Columbia

University and in New York realizing

that I have arrived in the city of

dreams I thought that it's finally time

for me to Chase my dreams to work in the

UN so because I was still a student that

then I applied for an internship

position in the

UN in February

2023 I waited for months and months and

months I never got a call back so I

thought to myself okay maybe I did not

get the

[Music]

decision for while waiting for that

announcement as a master student in

Columbia University I gained a deeper

understanding about the concept of Human

Rights where we are forced to train our

critical thinking skill communication

skills by creating so many policy

recommendations in order to solve

current world

problems for pform to June

20220 I get an email a call for an

interview as an intern in the

UN I was confused at

first because I even forgot that I ever

applied to that position because I

applied for so many months

ago but after doing the interview I

finally got my acceptance letter to

intern in the UN Office of the High

Commissioner for human rights in New

York

wow I'm closer to my goals look at how

far I have

come from a public high school graduate

andoria to newor

but if you ask me could I do this

without

education I would say absolutely

know so to prove my last points on why

you should pursue

education it is because education is a

catalyst for change it gives an

opportunity to individuals from

different backgrounds the chance to

improve their lives to improve their

social economic

lives and like me who came from a

non-privileged background I was finally

able to take a big steps forward from C

rogo to New

York and this is also because I don't

want my background to Define who I

am and because of Education I am now

well equipped with the skills that are

needed for me to find jobs in the future

future so I'm telling all of you today

to go ahead and take your

chances go ahead and pursue education as

high as possible and do not let your

background limits your future

opportunities do not worry about your

background and just go pursue

it because education has changed my life

and I I believe education will change

your life

too so although you cannot choose to

which family you are B

into you have the power to change your

life to change your future and with

education you are more and do not let

anybody tell you

otherwise thank you