Operation Smile is a program to help out kids who are suffering with cleft palates by fundraising to give treatments. Students and staff members who are involved in the program go on missions to several different countries and support the kids and to provide money in that country for the medical help the kids can receive. Many kids are naturally born with cleft palates, and their parents are suffering from pain that they are unable to help their kids. Being involved in Operation Smile gives us the joy and experience in knowing that little children are going to live a normal life.
At first, I was thinking and going through several ways about how I could set up a program at my school to help others. Then, I found out about Operation Smile. I asked my orthodontist if he had any idea and told me about this program. He wasn’t involved in the program, but knew other students who went on missions and told me about their involvement.
When I was three, I went to the dentist who examined me and found a little chip in my tooth. Being only three years old, I wouldn’t have been just born with a chipped tooth, but that all my other teeth were chipping away and sharpening my front tooth. Since he wasn’t an orthodontist, he suggested that I get examined by a surgical doctor. Therefore, I went to a bigger hospital named St. Mary’s Catholic hospital. I got examined by an orthodontist who figured out that because the top part of my jaw and the bottom part was not moving the way it was supposed to. It wasn’t closing and opening normally, and instead it was a little twisted. For instance, my top part would be a little to the right and the bottom part would be a little to the left, so it wasn’t aligned perfectly when it opened and closed. The orthodontist has never done surgery or put braces on a three year old. However, he was willing to give it a try. This would be his first and his last time probably operating on a three year old’s teeth. Because of my orthodontist, he was able to fix the tooth on time and place my jaw in the right position to function normally.
This conference was my first step in knowing more about the program and how I can be more involved in making a big change and breaking the barrier. The International Student Leadership Conference which was held in Orange County in California was a 4 day conference where students hear from motivational speakers, learn how to be a leader, how to work as a team, and how to look things in a different perspective. By taking small steps, I believed that I could be a part in making other people’s life be worth living and help kids be happy that they look normal again. I was interested in the conference and the program in general because I could sympathize with these children. My situation wasn’t anything like the situations that kids are living with having cleft palates, but I was happy and thankful that someone wanted to help me fix my problem and didn’t hesitate once to help me look normal. I wanted the little kids to feel the same way I did. I wanted the kids to look forward to having a normal smile and be happy and thankful that the kids had us to support them. By going to this conference, I knew I wasn’t going to go on missions to help kids cure their cleft palates right away, but could take my baby step to help raise the money which was the most crucial part in aiding the kids get the help they need.
At ISLC, there were team leaders who were trained and went on missions to several different countries, speakers, activities in helping us become new leaders and spread the word to others, and lectures who talked about their experiences. The team leaders helped each student at the conference to raise fundraisers at the schools, how to build regional summits, and most importantly, how to become a leader. One of the themes of the conference was how to break the barriers.
One of the speakers was named Terry Hawkins. Terry Hawkins, from Australia, is an award winning speaker, entrepreneur, and an author. Terry Hawkins was a dynamic and a powerful speaker who told us that there were no failures in life, but just feedback. Everyone falls into the pit, and no one can ever be always happy. We all have to have empathy. She introduced us to the “Flipman.” She taught us to repeat things and to gain a habit in your brain. We had to overcome that our brain thinks that it’s talking bad about ourselves. Since we follow what we do and no what we say, we have to take the first action in becoming a leader. We have to train to become like a captain to lead the crew to move the boat to gain a productive outcome. We can say it, feel it, see it, and finally do it. I was surprised by the way Terry used to give us a simple, but powerful lesson. Terry Hawkins took a cliche “take the action, become a leader” phrase and approached it with a new concept of having our own flipman and to become like a flipman to take the action and to come out of our pit from falling down.
My favorite speaker was a woman named Lizzie Velasquez. She is a 25 global motivational speaker, anti-bullying activist and an author. She’s given TED talks, and her talks were featured on multiple social media channels. Lizzie was a bullying victim when she was younger because of her chronic condition where she isn’t able to gain weight and will always be stuck at being 50 pounds having bones shown instead of some fat. Lizzie has been suffering from a condition that she can’t fix for 25 years. She learned from her own experiences that she will never be able to forget. She was once bullied and wanted to save others from causing the pain that she was in. She didn’t give up and fought for herself. She got bullied, pointed at, and laughed at, but she believed that she could prevent from others experiences what she experienced in the past. She showed courage, happiness, love, and hope. She was braver than anybody and never lost her smile. She showed us that we can move on from our pain and sufferings and help others from what we dealt with. Lizzie was the most courageous and beautiful woman I have ever met.
My second favorite speaker was Julie Kelly. Julie Kelly was not the perfect person, but a person who had aspirations of pursuing her passion and becoming a scientist. However, she had to face challenges such as the car accident that almost ended her life. A speeding drunk driver ran a red light and hit Julie directly in her driver’s side door. Julie’s lecture was to embrace being unique and to be one of a kind. Each one of us could represent ourselves by being extraordinary.
When Julie’s car crashed, her leg was under massive pieces of the ruined car. However, Julie didn’t let her fear get into her way of saving her own life. She was not afraid to reach up and take risks. She stepped up for herself. Julie fought for herself. She had to believe that when she survives the accident she had opportunities for something bigger to happen in life. “Everything in life happens FOR you not TO you.” Julie got her “superhero” out of herself in a difficult situation. Julie constantly reminded herself about the good life that she will have in the future by getting her leg out and surviving. She had the three essential factors, courage, strength, and perseverance. Everyone lives in fear or has situations where they just want to give up and let things go. However, Julie taught us that if we are the victim of a situation and stay at that same place, we will never be able to take the extra step and gain strength to get back to be ourselves. We have to defeat the negative conscience and bring out the positive conscience. Julie spoke from her experience and what she learned and gave us the most significant advice in becoming our own selves. We need to remember that we are strong and courageous. We can take control and defeat the challenge ourselves in every situation. Most importantly, we can never give up. By taking out our “superhero”, we can push through the pain and fear of the challenges we face. We can be special, unique and be one of a kind. Julie taught us resilience and courage and to keep fighting even when the odds are against us. She was the most moving speaker with the best advice that she can give to teenagers.
My future goal would be to go on a mission and experience a moment I will only have once in my lifetime. I hope to go to a country to help support the kids, help kids smile, and to build relationships to build them the medical care that the kids deserve. However, my next step , as of now, is to spread the word about this amazing program to my school community. I want to raise money by creating ideas to help raise money such as baking sales or other types of fundraisers. I can create a chapter and show the whole student body videos about these children and how people felt when going on these missions. With over 400 people helping out, I believe that I can make a difference and break the barrier by becoming a leader in my community.