Loving Where You're From | Emilio Joubert | TEDxGeorgetown
The speaker emphasizes that the most crucial element for personal and societal change is mentorship, drawing parallels between his difficult upbringing, sustained by family and community belief, and the necessity of others becoming mentors to lift up others. He details his journey from childhood instability in Haverhill and Bradford through periods of illness and housing insecurity to achieving academic success through education and structured support like the CW SP. The core message is a call to action: everyone should endeavor to become a mentor to change another's life. ## Speakers & Context - Speaker: Unnamed, presenting at an unknown formal setting. - Opening frame: Loves where he is from, citing the sweet sounds of bachata merengue mixed with English and Spanish. - Specific acknowledgments: Shout-outs to his sibling sitting in the front row and students in the ASK program. - Personal Connection: Mentions his strong ties to his local community. ## Theses & Positions - The primary force for change in life is the belief and support of others (mentorship). - Education was the single most important element in his personal development and ability to succeed. - The role of mentorship is to allow an individual to achieve success beyond their perceived limitations. - A core life message is the imperative for everyone to become a mentor for another person to change their life. ## Concepts & Definitions - **Bachata merengue:** Music style that encapsulates the speaker's cultural connection and sense of place. - **CW SP (Corporate Work-Study Program):** A four-letter acronym explaining the affordability of Notre Dame Cristo Rey. - **Yellow house:** A description of a presumed "crack house" environment in Haverhill, Massachusetts. - **Mentor:** An individual whose belief and support proved crucial to the speaker's success. ## Mechanisms & Processes - **Stabilizing process:** The shift from an unstable environment (Yellow House) to living with grandparents, providing initial stability. - **Academic Ascent:** The realization that education was the key mechanism to overcoming early life difficulties. - **Financial Accessibility:** Using the CW SP mechanism allowed attendance at Notre Dame Cristo Rey for approximately $1,000 a year. - **Experiential Learning:** Completing internships at various firms (Nuance, Our q link, Emerson ecologic, Keurig Green Mountain) provided structured career preparation. - **Skill Acquisition:** The two-week training seminar provided instruction on professional skills, such as handshakes and timely arrival. ## Timeline & Sequence - **Childhood (Haverhill):** Lived in the "yellow house" on Emerson Street; frequently recalled police knocks. - **Early Childhood (Grandparents' House):** Period where the family saved money due to financial instability. - **Bradford:** Lived in this city; estimated spending approximately one thousand hours swimming in the public pool; incurred an estimated million splinters from walking barefoot. - **Period of Illness:** Approximately one week after the hearing "cancer" at night, the mother was diagnosed with stage 4 breast cancer; father subsequently lost Diamond Auto Detailing. - **Decline and Displacement:** Father's mental health declined, leading to escalating arguments; culminated in the family leaving their established residence and temporarily moving to the 90 the knotty pine motel in Salisbury, Massachusetts. - **Traumatic Period:** Recalled viewing *Avatar The Last Airbender* episode 3: the southern air temple on Nickelodeon as a metaphor for profound loss. - **Respite:** Found a condominium in Lawrence, Massachusetts, which offered a period of perceived stability. - **Academic Turning Point:** After the mother's initial relapse, the speaker realized education was the necessary key for change, leading to intensified study in middle school. - **Early Success (Wait-listed):** Applied to Governors Academy in Byfield, Massachusetts; after three or four weeks, received a wait-listed status. - **Opportunity (NDCR):** A father noticed the "NDCR" symbol on a worker's shirt, prompting the investigation into Notre Dame Cristo Rey as an affordable option. - **Commitment to Education:** Attending Notre Dame Cristo Rey, working one to two days a week, and accumulating internships. - **Maturity Markers:** The speaker was late for school by 40 minutes on the last day of summer training when his mother had a bad night, leading to a significant conversation with Sister Mary Alice. - **Recent Life Stages:** The mother relapsed for the third time and later passed away in a hospice room. The speaker relocated to live with his grandparents and later enrolled at Georgetown. - **Future Outlook:** Will be working full time next year at Instagram, following internships with the Department of Education and Instagram. ## Named Entities - Lawrence, Massachusetts: City the speaker loves; where his father found the condominium. - Haverhill, Massachusetts: City of speaker's original birth and childhood residence; includes Emerson Street. - Bradford: City where the speaker spent time living, associated with the public pool. - Salisbury, Massachusetts: Location of the 90 the knotty pine motel. - Byfield, Massachusetts: Location of Governors Academy. - Crystal Palace (Implied): The initial "yellow house" environment. - Notre Dame Cristo Rey: High school that proved affordable due to the CW SP. - Georgetown: University attended by the speaker. - Instagram: Company where the speaker is scheduled to work full time the following year. ## Numbers & Data - Age of mother's diagnosis: Approximately seven or eight years old for the speaker. - Cancer Relapses: The mother relapsed for the third time. - Argument Durations: Arguments between parents and grandparents lasted for durations such as five minutes, ten minutes, fifteen minutes, and twenty minutes. - Wait-list Time: Received wait-listed status from Governors Academy after three or four weeks. - Financial Aid Details: An initial cost of about $12,000 was reduced by $6,000 in aid, with an additional $1,000 received from the president, leaving $7,000 remaining; tuition paid was about $1,000 a year. - Work Frequency: Students attending NDCR work one to two days a week. - Internships: Completed internships at Nuance Communications, Our q link, Emerson ecologic, and Keurig Green Mountain. - Lateness Incident: Was late for school by 40 minutes when his mother had a bad night. - Time Gap: The significant conversation with Sister Mary Alice occurred seven years later. ## Examples & Cases - **The "Yellow House":** Described as a place marked by recurring police knocks, implying instability. - **The Public Pool:** A site in Bradford where the speaker estimates spending a thousand hours swimming. - **The Joyride:** An outing with his older cousin Omar in Bradford. - **The Motels/Housing Crisis:** Instances of sleeping in the truck (Bruno or snowflake) or staying at the 90 the knotty pine motel in Salisbury, Massachusetts. - **The Condo:** A residence found in Lawrence, Massachusetts, described as looking nice outside but decaying inside, located behind a nightclub. - **The Initial Failure:** The interview at Governors Academy resulted in a wait-listed status. - **The Breakthrough:** The father seeing the "NDCR" symbol on a worker's shirt, leading to discovery of the affordable NDCR path. ## Tools, Tech & Products - Pamphlet/Book: Given by the mother upon her cancer diagnosis. - Camera Gear (Implied): Used for documenting the journey/experience. ## References Cited - Nickelodeon: Channel that aired *Avatar The Last Airbender* episode 3: the southern air temple. ## Trade-offs & Alternatives - **Stability Choice:** Choosing between the initial unstable life in the "yellow house" or the relative stability offered by the grandparents' care. - **Educational Path:** The initial aspiration for Governors Academy versus the practical, accessible opportunity provided by Notre Dame Cristo Rey. - **Financial Sacrifice:** Balancing the financial pressures of housing/cancer care with the opportunity cost of pursuing education through work. ## Counterarguments & Caveats - The speaker explicitly states he "didn't fully understand what the word cancer meant" when first hearing it. - Acknowledged difficulty with initial social skills: "I was really bad at [handshakes] at first." - Qualification of success: Expressing that his current success feels greater than what he thought was possible at 13. - Disclaimer on resources: Stated, "I'm not gonna call any of any schools out [regarding the local Catholic schools]." - Admission of personal failure: Stating, "I ran away from my father." ## Methodology - **Narrative Recall:** Method involves structuring personal history by recounting memories chronologically, moving from stable childhood elements to periods of crisis, and finally to structured achievement. - **Symbolic Representation:** Using cultural artifacts (e.g., *Avatar* episode) to metaphorically represent the loss and uncertainty of his life phases. ## Conclusions & Recommendations - The most important takeaway is the necessity of mentorship: "If you all become a mentor for somebody else you can change somebody's life." - The speaker asserts that he would not be the person he is today without the combined belief of his family and mentors. ## Implications & Consequences - Lack of external belief leads to stagnancy: The implication is that without these supportive figures, his life trajectory would have been severely limited. - Educational attainment shifts trajectory: Successfully navigating the education system provided the means to achieve his current professional status. ## Open Questions - The exact words or details of the conversation when his mother mentioned her lung collapse during the drive home with Sister Mary Alice. ## Verbatim Moments - *"The sweet sounds of bachata merengue wrapping around you as you listen to the dialectical mix of English and Spanish."* - *"I just know that not too long after that my mom walked up to me... and said that she was gonna start losing hair and losing weight."* - *"I can't think of a more apt metaphor for what's going on in our lives during that time."* - *"I realized that the key to getting out the key to changing my life was education."* - *"It was because of her and because of the corporate work-study program that I was able to succeed excuse me succeed and thrive during my time in high school."* - *"My message to all of you for this talk that I have which has been such an honor is to always try your hardest to become somebody's mentor."* - *"I feel like a younger version of myself would attribute the success that I've had today with my own skill with the things that I put together with how hard I worked."*