OWL reader Olivia went to We Day Vancouver last week! Here’s what she had to say about the event:
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I was recently at We Day, which is a day of inspirational speakers talking to kids about things like bullying, poverty, and helping out in your community. This year the theme was empowerment, which in this case means breaking down barriers to change and creating a world of difference.
My favourite speaker of the day was Mama Helen, a Mama in Kenya making rafiki bracelets for Me to We. She was my favourite because she was an example of how we could help someone else in a different place somewhere else in the world. Also, my favourite quote from the day was “if your dreams don’t scare you, they are not big enough.” It was really inspirational.
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We Day is something I’ve always heard about but have never had the chance to go. What made it even more exciting for me was that I went with my mom and it was her birthday!
It was amazing to see so many people there. Over 26,000 people to be exact! What’s cool about that is they all earned their ticket to be there by doing something helpful to change the world for the better. You can not buy tickets to We Day!
Spencer West
There were performance and speeches by singers, actors, actresses, scientists, inventors, and normal everyday people who have done something great for the world. My favourite person there was Spencer West. Spencer is a person who had a disease that was so bad doctors had to amputate his lower body. I mean his whole lower body! He was my favorite person there because his speech was so amazing but more so because he didn’t complain about what happened to him, instead he used it to help and empower people.
My other favourite moment of the day was seeing the queen of girl power, inventor Natalie Panek. Natalie talked about how women all over need to be treated equally and she said female inventors should be more noticed. She played a game with us to see if we knew some of the most famous female inventors. Sadly, we all knew Kim Kardashian and Honey Boo Boo better than the female inventors that are changing the world today. Natalie also taught me about the power of technology to help people locally and globally, but she also taught me about girl power! Overall, I walked away feeling that with empowerment we can achieve anything in the world, locally and globally.