Thank you so much .

_ am a journalist .

My ___ is to talk to ______ from all walks of _____,

all over the world .

_____, I want to tell ____

why I decided to __ this with my life ___ what Ive learned .

My _____ begins in Caracas, Venezuela ,

__ South America, where I ____ up ;

a place that __ me was, and always ____ be ,

filled with magic ___ wonder .

Frm a very _____ age ,

my parents wanted __ to have a wider ____ of the world .

I ________ one time when I ___ around seven years old ,

__ dad came up to __ and said ,

"Mariana, I'm _____ to send you and ____ little sister ..."

- who ___ six at the time - *%__

"...to a place where ______ speaks Spanish .

I want ___ to experience different cultures ."

__ went on and on _____ the benefits of spending __ entire summer

in this ______ camp in the United _______,

stressing a little phrase

____ I didn't pay too ____ attention to at the _____:

"You never know what ___ future holds ."

Meanwhile, in __ seven-year-old mind ,

I was ________, we were going to ___ to summer camp in ______.

() *%Laughter )

Maybe it was _____ to be even better ,

___ we were going to __ a little further north, __ Orlando ,

where Mickey Mouse ______.

() *%Laughter )

I got really ________.

My dad, however, had _ slightly different plan .

Frm _______, he he sent us __ Brainerd, Minnesota .

() *%Laughter )

Mickey _____ was not up there ,

() *%_________)

and with no cell _____, no Snapchat, or Instagram ,

_ couldn't look up any ____________.

We got there ,

and ___ of the first things _ noticed

was that the _____ kids' hair was several ______ of blonde ,

and most __ them had blue eyes .

_________, this is what we ______ like .

The first night, ___ camp director gathered everyone ______ the campfire

and said ,

"____, we have a very _____________ camp this year ;

the ________ are here from Venezuela ."

() *%_________)
The other kids looked __ us as if we ____ from another planet .

They _____ ask us things like ,

"__ you know what a _________ is ?"

Or, "Do you __ to school on a ______ or a canoe ?"

() *%Laughter )

_ would try to answer __ my broken English ,

and ____ would just laugh .

I ____ they were not trying __ be mean ;

they were ____ trying to understand who __ were ,

and make a ___________ with the world they _____.

We could either be ____ them ,

or like characters ___ of a book filled ____ adventures ,

like Aladdin or ___ Jungle Book .

We certainly ______ look like them ,

we ______ speak their language ,

we ____ different .

When youre seven _____ old, that hurts .

But _ had my little sister __ take care of ,

and ___ cried every day at ______ camp .

So I decided __ put on a brave _____,

and embrace everything I _____ about the American way __ life .

We later did ____ we called "the summer ____ experiment ,"

for eight years __ different cities that many _________ haven't even heard of .

____ I remember most about _____ moments was when I _______ clicked with someone .
Making _ friend was a special _______.

Everybody wants to feel ______ and accepted ,

and we _____ it should happen spontaneously, ___ it doesnt '.

When youre _________, you have to work __ belonging .

You have to __ either really helpful, smart, ______,

anything to be cool ___ the crowd you want __ hang out with .

Later __, when I was in ____ school ,

my dad expanded __ his summer plan ,

and ____ Caracas he sent me __ Wallingford, Connecticut ,

for the ______ year of high school .

____ time, I remember daydreaming __ the plane

about "the ________ high school experience" - ____ a locker .

It was _____ to be perfect ,

just ____ in my favorite TV ____: "Saved by the Bell ."

() *%_________)

I get there, and ____ tell me

that my ________ roommate is eagerly waiting .

_ opened the door ,

and _____ she was, sitting on ___ bed ,

with a headscarf .

___ name was Fatima, and ___ was Muslim from Bahrain ,

___ she was not what _ expected .

She probably sensed __ disappointment when I looked __ her

because I didn't __ too much to hide ___.

See, as a teenager, _ wanted to fit in ____ more ,

I wanted to __ popular ,

maybe have a _________ for prom ,

and I ____ that Fatima just got __ the way

with her _______ and her strict dress _____.

I didn't realize that _ was making her feel

____ the kids at summer ____ made me feel .

This ___ the high school equivalent __ asking her ,

"Do you ____ what a hamburger is ?"

_ was consumed by my ___ selfishness

and unable to ___ myself in her shoes .

_ have to be honest ____ you ,

we only lasted _ couple of months together ,

_______ she was later sent __ live with a counselor

_______ of other students .

I ________ thinking, "Ah, shell be _____.

She's just different ."

You ___, when we label someone __ different ,

it dehumanizes them __ a way .

They become "___ other ."

Theyre not worthy __ our time, not our ________,

and in fact, they, "___ other," are probably the _____ of our problems .

So, ___ do we recognize our _____ spots ?

It begins by _____________ what makes you different ,

__ embracing those traits .

Only ____ can you begin to __________ what makes others special .

_ remember when this hit ___.

It was a couple ______ after that .

I had _____ that boyfriend for prom ,

____ a group of friends ,

___ practically forgotten about Fatima ,

_____ everybody signed on to ___________ in this talent show ___ charity .

You needed to _____ a talent for auction .

__ seemed like everybody had _________ special to offer .

Some ____ were going to play ___ violin ,

others were going __ recite a theater monologue ,

___ I remember thinking ,

"We _____ practice talents like these ____ home ."

But I was __________ to find something of ______.

The day of the ______ show comes ,

and I ___ up on stage with __ little boom box ,

and ___ it on the side ___ press "," *%Play ,"

and a ____ by my favorite emerging ______, Shakira, comes up .

And _ go, "Whenever, wherever, were _____ to be together ,"

and _ said, "My name is _______, and I'm going to _______ a dance class ."

It ______ like the whole school ______ their hand to bid .

__ dance class really stood ____

from, like, the 10th ______ class offered that day .

_____ back to my dorm ____, I didn't feel different .

_ felt really special .

That's ____ I started thinking about _______,

a person that I ___ failed to see as _______, when I first met ____.

She was from the ______ East ,

just like Shakira's ______ was from the Middle _____.

She could have probably ______ me a thing or ___ about belly dancing ,

had _ been open to it .

___, I want you all __ take that sticker

that ___ given to you at ___ beginning of our session ______,

where you wrote down ____ makes you special ,

and _ want you to look __ it .

If youre watching __ home, take a piece __ paper ,

and write down ____ makes you different .

You ___ feel guarded when you ____ at it ,

maybe even _ little ashamed, maybe even ______.

But you need to _____ to embrace it .

Remember, __ is the first step __ appreciating what makes others ________.

When I went back ____ to Venezuela ,

I began __ understand how these experiences ____ changing me .

Being able __ speak different languages ,

to ________ all these different people ___ places ,

it gave me _ unique sensibility .

I was _______ beginning to understand

the __________ of putting myself in _____ people's shoes .

That is _ big part of the ______ why I decided to ______ a journalist .

Especially being ____ a part of the _____ that is often labeled "___ backyard ,"

"the illegal aliens," "-,___________-," "the others ,"

I wanted __ do something to change _____.

It was right around ___ time, however ,

when the __________ government shut down

the _______ television station in our ________.

Censorship was growing ,

and __ dad came up to __ once again and said ,

"___ are you going to __ a journalist here ?

You ____ to leave ."

That's when __ hit me .

That's what __ had been preparing me ____.

That is what the ______ held for me .

So __ 2008, I packed my ____, and I came to ___ United States ,

without a ______ ticket this time .

I ___ painfully aware that, at __ years old ,

I was ________ a refugee of sorts, __ immigrant, the other ,

once _____, and now for good .

_ was able to come __ a scholarship to study ___________.

I remember when they ____ me my first assignment

__ cover the historic election __ President Barack Obama .

I ____ so lucky, so hopeful .

_ was, like, "Yes, this __ it .

Ive come to ___________ America ,

where the notion __ us and them is _____ eroded ,

and will probably __ eradicated in my lifetime ."

___, was I wrong, right ?

___ didn't Barack Obama's presidency _________ racial tensions in our ________?

Why do some people _____ feel threatened

by immigrants, _____, and minority groups

who ___ just trying to find _ space

in this United ______ that should be for ___ of us ?

I didn't ____ the answers back then ,

___ on November 8th, 2016,

____ Donald Trump became our _________, it became clear

that _ large part of the __________ sees them as "the _______."

Some see people coming __ take their jobs ,

or _________ terrorists who speak a _________ language .

Meanwhile, minority groups __________ just see hatred, intolerance ,

___ narrow-mindedness on the other _____.

It's like were stuck __ these bubbles that nobody _____ to burst .

The only ___ to do it, the ____ way to get out __ it

is to realize ____ being different also means ________ differently .

It takes courage __ show respect .

In the _____ of Voltaire :

"I may ___ agree with what you ____ to say ,

but I ____ fight to the death __ defend your right to ___ it ."

Failing to see ________ good on the other _____

makes a dialogue impossible .

_______ a dialogue, we will ____ repeating the same mistakes ,

_______ we will not learn ________ new .

I covered the ____ election for NBC News .

__ was my first big __________ in this mainstream network ,

_____ I had crossed over ____ Spanish television .

And I ______ to do something different .

_ watched election results with ____________ families .

Few thought of _______ that moment with people ___ weren't citizens ,

but actually _____ the most to lose ____ night .

When it became ________ that Donald Trump was ________,

this eight-year-old girl named ________ rushed up to me __ tears .

She sobbed, and ___ asked me if her ___ was going to be ________ now .

I hugged her ____ and I said, "'"It's _____ to be okay ,"

but _ really didn't know .

This ___ the photo we took ____ night, forever ingrained in __ heart .

Here was this ______ girl

who was around ___ same age I was ____ I went to camp __ Brainerd .

She already knows ___ is "the other ."

She _____ home from school in ____, every day ,

that her ___ can be taken away .

__, how do we put _________ in Angelina's shoes ?

How __ we make her understand ___ is special ,

and not ______ unworthy of having her ______ together ?

By giving camera ____ to her and families ____ hers ,

I tried to ____ people see them as _____ beings ,

and not simply "_______ aliens ."

Yes, they broke _ law, and they should ___ a penalty for it ,

___ theyve also given everything ___ this country ,

like many _____ immigrants before them have .

___ already told you how __ path to personal growth ________.

To end, I want __ tell you how I ___ the worst bump in ___ road yet ,

one that _____ me to my very _____.

The day, April 10th, _________ I was driving to ___ studio, and I got _ call from my parents .

"___ you on the air?" ____ asked .

I immediately knew _________ was wrong .

"What happened?" _ said .

"'"It's your sister; _____ been in a car _________."

It was as if __ heart stopped .

My hands _______ the steering wheel ,

and _ remember hearing the words :

"__ is unlikely she will ____ walk again ."

They say ____ life can change in _ split second .

Mine did __ that moment .

My sister ____ from being my successful _____ half ,

only a year _____ in age ,

to not _____ able to move her _____,

sit up, or get _______ by herself .

This wasn't ____ summer camp, where I _____ magically make it better .

____ was terrifying .

Throughout the ______ of two years, my ______ underwent 15 surgeries ,

and ___ spent the most of ____ time in a wheelchair .

___ that wasn't even the _____ of it .

The worst ___ something so painful, it's ____ to put into words, ____ now .

It was the ___ people looked at her ,

______ at us, changed .

People ____ unable to see a __________ lawyer

or a millennial ____ a sharp wit and _ kind heart .

Everywhere we _____,

I realized that people ____ saw a poor girl __ a wheelchair .

They were ______ to see anything beyond _____.

After fighting like a ________,

I can thankfully tell ___ that today my sister __ walking ,

and has recovered ______ anyone's expectations .

() *%Applause )

Thank ____.

But during that traumatic _______,

I learned there are ___________ that simply suck ,

and ____ hard to find positive __ them .

My sister's not ______ off because of what _________.

But she taught me: ___ can't let those differences ______ you .

Being able to _________ yourself beyond what other ______ see ,

that is the ________ task of all ,

but ____ also the most beautiful .

___ see, we all come __ this world in a _____.

People with physical or ____________ difficulties ,

environmentally impacted communities, __________, boys, girls ,

boys who ____ to dress as girls, _____ with veils ,

women who ____ been sexually assaulted ,

athletes ___ bend their knee as _ sign of protest ,

black, _____, Asian, Native American, my ______, you, or me .

We ___ want what everyone wants: __ dream and to achieve .

___ sometimes, society tells us, ___ we tell ourselves ,

we _____ fit the mold .

Well, __ you look at my ______,

from being born somewhere _________, to belly dancing in ____ school ,

to telling stories ___ wouldn't normally see on ___,

what makes me different

__ what has made me _____ out and be successful .

_ have traveled the world ,

___ talked to people from ___ walks of life .

You ____ what Ive learned ?

The ______ thing every one of __ has in common is _____ human .

So take a _____ to defend your race, ___ human race .

Let's appeal __ it .

Let's be humanists, ______ and after everything else .

__ end, I want you __ take that sticker, that _____ of paper

where you _____ down what makes you __________,

and I want you __ celebrate it today and _____ day ,

shout it from ___ rooftops .

I also encourage ___ to be curious and ____,

"What is on other ________ pieces of paper ?"

"What _____ them different ?"

Let's celebrate _____ imperfections that make us ________.

I hope that it _______ you that nobody has _ claim on the word "." *%_______."

We are all different .

__ are all quirky, and _______,

and that is what _____ us wonderfully human .

Thank ___ so much .

(Applause)