Hello, my name is Tri
Three years ago, I was a seventeen year old teenager
but I was not your typical teen
However, my time spent in the hospital bed differentiates me from other teenagers
At "sixty-something" pounds, I lacked the strength even to lift up my feet,
-,rendering me useless and unable to walk.
It was a severe case of bulimia nervosa
or also known as a binge-eating disorder that is followed by vomiting.
The battle I fought to overcome this mental challenge was strenuous and difficult
but I was a winner and a survivor.
Following my recovery, my goal has been to educate people
and I have given countless speeches in regards to eating disorders and mental health.
But today, I'm here, at Pembleton University,
not to give you a lecture about whether you should eat or not
rather, I'm here to discuss-
to bring forward a more profound and essential value I found that completely altered my life.
I believe it could change your life too.
Our technological industry advanced at an unexpectedly rapid rate over a few decades.
From robotic humanoid that can complete
-complex tasks to procedures that are able to interfere with the neural pathway,
it never failed to amaze me.
I remember being full of curiosity when I heard about the recent release of Aestheticity I.
If you aren't already aware,
- it is similar to a spex version of Visage.
It allows the user to visualize what others would look like with cosmetic surgery through their spex.
Although it was a recent trend
- and many enjoyed it
others were offended by this new movement.
Fortunately, I was able to get my hand on the device
- and I was completely blown away to see it in action.
Through the spex, everyone I saw was "beautiful".
I have to admit that it was an oddly fascinating experience.
But then, I caught a glimpse of myself in the mirror,
- and I was struck by a strange feeling.
Imagine looking at yourself in a mirror:
- it is you, but not quite.
It is an attractive doppelganger of yourself.
Big sparkly eyes,
- high nose, slim face with good complexion,
- and a perfect body stared at me,
- and an uncomfortable surge suddenly washed over my body.
The spex distorts reality, and I was uncomfortable because of it.
It erased "flaws" in my appearance
and displayed an idealized version of myself while clouding my head with negativity
Memories from three years ago flooded my head.
I froze.
For half an hour, I just stood there and contemplated that "perfect" image of myself as my mind drifted down memory lane,
back to when my body starved as I wished to be slim.
Now,
this is where I want all of you students in the audience
- to take a moment and to ponder over this question:
When was the last time that you feel comfortable in your own skin?
On that day,
- this question plagued my mind as I struggled to answer it myself.
Being a kid was probably the best part of our life.
All we did was run around naked and smelled bad;
we didn't care about what others thought about us or about our physical appearances.
However, that carefree attitude gradually dulled as we aged.
At the age of five,
we become more conscious of judgment,
causing us to be more vulnerable to the world and its influence.
We are constantly bombarded by culture, media, and advertisements with the idea of how beauty should be.
They urge us to buy more and be more of that beauty ideal,
- forcing us to become obsessed with our appearance.
Especially now, since cosmetic surgery became ubiquitous,
beauty standard is more narrowly defined to the point where it homogenizes the way people look.
One must possess certain features to be considered "pretty".
And this concern becomes significant, especially in a college environment.
Many people, especially young girls and women,
exert effort to measure up with insane beauty standards that are impossible to achieve.
They compare themselves to the unrealistic body image of the models that appear in magazines or advertisements,
- often generating negative self-image.
Research has shown this perceptible problem of self-esteem
- as 50% of 16-21-year-old women want to undergo cosmetic surgery,
and many more are on constant anxious about their weight.
This is significant because the Western beauty ideals have become so pervasive that even children are worrying about their appearance.
Adolescents with body dissatisfaction have high tendency to be depressed and to commit suicide.
Concern about weight commonly results in risky dieting practices,
which is the most common mode of entry to eating disorders.
This contributes to the double in eating disorder cases over the last few decades.
The stressful environment in college makes its students become more susceptible to these risks.
The National Eating Disorder Association (NEDA for short)
- estimates between 10 to 20% of female students
- and 4 to 10% of male students in college that experience eating disorder.
Being uncomfortable in your own skin is a magnet;
it attracts criticism and negativity.
My insecurity regarding my appearance was a black hole,
- one influenced by societal stigmas.
I started to apply the stereotypical beauty standard into my life.
Hazardous dieting led to a serious eating disorder,
- and I put my own life on the line
- only to come to the realization that looks do not matter.
I learned it the hard way.
Are you willing to face the prospect of death and illnesses in order to appreciate what you have?
I want you to recognize your mindset's impact.
You must build a strong sense of self-esteem regardless of your physical appearance.
Throughout my days of giving motivational speeches,
- I met Lizzie Velasquez,
a wonderful woman with an extremely rare disease;
- she is unable to gain weight,
- which causes deformities on her face.
Despite the detrimental and negative remarks society imposed on her,
- she defied them and turned it into a ladder that would lead her to success.
Her looks do not determine how much happiness she deserves;
her self-respect makes her life worth living.
At the end of the day,
- if your goal in life is to achieve optimal happiness,
- you need to start feeling good about yourself.
The real question is: how do you get there?
Speaking about it, by itself, does not make any difference.
We must do something.
The good news is that there is a way to achieve this.
However, we are approaching this problem incorrectly.
Advocates are trying to steer our focus to the enforcement of calliagnosia
(or calli for short)
a brain rewiring program that hinders the perception of beauty,
as a solution to battle lookism and to boost self-confidence,
- but it is not effective.
It is like putting a blind to cover yourself from the sun;
- the sun is still there, you just don't see it.
To defeat discrimination,
- we have to start from the root of the problem:
- we must feel confident in the way we look.
Calli does not solve this problem because once we turned it off,
- it resets our progress,
- forcing us back to our starting point,
- our most vulnerable state.
Relying heavily on technology
- will just harness the opportunity to define ourselves more than just our appearance.
Then, what approach is appropriate?
Education!
Education is crucial.
It is important to spread knowledge about body confidence.
We need to help people develop strategies to cope with issues relating to self-image.
Educate our children, our friends, and even ourselves
- so all of us can be freed from the inner voice that condemns us
- for not having a thinner body, a longer leg, or bigger eyes.
Education is momentum in the sense that our knowledge continues to ripple across every person we meet.
We disperse our knowledge by becoming a role model,
- one that truly demonstrates that the belief in a superior or perfect appearance is superficial.
This modeling role can be achieved
by praising one's value according to ability rather than appearance:
Stop judging a book by its cover.
Education will allow us to challenge the existing culture that impedes many from realizing their worth.
Three years ago,
- I struggled to please the eyes of others.
Over time,
- I learned to please myself.
Indeed,
- happiness is not equivalent to beauty,
there are many beautiful models who are probably the most insecure people on the planet
- because they wake up every day worrying about their looks
If there is a takeaway from this talk,
- I hope that you can grasp the importance of your feelings towards your appearance
- and to be a part of this movement that can shape our world in a better way.
Let's start by building your self-esteem,
- begin with changing your mindset of how you look.
Let's educate our students about body confidence
- by creating student organizations, and clubs that promote these ideas.
Faculty and staffs can also be a part of this movement by encouraging anti-lookism in the classroom environment.
Let's put this idea into our life practice
- by embracing others for their actions and how they make us feel,
- rather than their appearance.
Let's be the first generation to make a change in this image-obsessed culture.
I believe every single student sitting here carries enough potential to make a difference.
Let's do this!
Thank you!
For more infomation >> 不甘遭抹黑！吳音寧親上政論節目反擊喊告 - Duration: 4:33. 
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