My Journey Event Speech at YLHS

For those of you who don’t know me, my name is Anastasia and I’m a senior.

Watching the video now, it seemed like, in the beginning, I talked really slow.  Although I've told my story before, I haven’t done anything this public.  Filming, I was a little surprised that it was difficult to talk about some parts of my past.  Although it’s distant, reliving it can still be painful.  That’s why I couldn't help but talk about God and His impact on my life and my healing.  I understand we go to a public school and just mentioning religion here makes some people uncomfortable.  But this is my personal story, my journey, and it is a testament to what faith can do in a person’s life. 

MY OUTREACH TO RUSSIA

Now, I’d like to tell you about the next step in my journey.  On November 30, I leave for 6 weeks to Russia.  I will be going back to St Petersburg, to my former orphanage as an intern.  I have 3 specific goals:

My first goal is to learn about the whole orphanage system.  I’ll be shadowing social workers, learning about budgets, cooking meals, changing diapers, and probably scrubbing toilets.  I want to learn about running an orphanage because I want to build one to provide lost, abused and thrown away children a safe place to live, one where they are fed, clothed, loved and told about God.

My second goal is to talk to some of the powerful people, the people with money, about helping orphans in their community.  There are 4 Rotary Clubs in St Petersburg and I plan to start there.  I also want to champion adoption, in particular, international adoption.  Russia has been slowly closing its doors to international adoption, but its own system of foster care and family support has not made up the gap.  More and more children are falling through the cracks.  Less and less children have any hope of a different life.  I was one of the few that ‘got out’ and I feel a need to advocate for those stuck in the system.  You see, I was adopted 2 days before my 11^th birthday.  Had I not been adopted, I would have been transferred to an orphanage for teens, which was basically a pimp house.

My third goal is where you come in.  It’s to minister to the kids themselves directly.  To show them love, to  give them hope  and to let them know that someone cares.  That YOU care.  

As you saw in my video, the two big words that made a change for me were CARE and LOVE.  Care and love are absolutely the biggest need the orphans have.  So, I had this crazy idea to involve the whole school.  We have 1,810 students here this year.  Imagine the impact we could have on fatherless kids if we only . . .,

if we just . . .

I think so often our biggest worries are SO small.  For instance, on Wednesday afternoon, I was so stressed out about showing you guys this video.  I thought I looked stupid and sounded stupid and I was complaining about it to a friend.  I actually wasn't even going to show it to you guys, but that same night, I get a phone call from that same friend where she said, “My dad is in the hospital”.  I rushed over to be with her and I see her, in the waiting room, bawling her eyes out.   I hug her and say “Hayley, it will be OK.  He’s just sick, he’ll get better”.  She said, “No, it won’t.  My dad is dead”.  At that moment, I froze, I just kind of stood back and saw that while I was putting wrinkles on my forehead over how I looked on a video, her whole world was changing.  Her dad won’t be there to see her graduate, or walk her down the aisle or hold his first grandchild.  She lost a parent.  And then I thought about the orphans and street children in Russia who don’t have parents at all.  I remembered what it was like and I can tell you they don’t worry about graduating, they worry if they’ll have enough to eat tomorrow.  They don’t look in a full closet and ask “what am I going to wear today”, they ask, do I have any clothes or shoes, how will I stay warm outside?

When I tuned back in, I saw Hayley surrounded by her friends, all doing their best to comfort her.   I also saw girl who’d stepped away from the group and was on her phone.  She lives with a foster family.  She was calling her mom who she hadn't talked to in a long time.  I overheard her say “Hey mom, I just wanted to say I love you.”  As I looked back to our group, beyond them, to the left, a woman walked in with a balloon bouquet saying ‘baby’.  Even though this was a tragic moment for Hayley, there was beauty and hope in that place too.

I thought back to the orphans in Russia and the beauty and hope WE can bring to them.  Remember those earlier statistics?  90% of the teens leaving orphanages fail.  What if we could change that?  What if we could show that a school, halfway across the world cares about these kids?  What if, in helping to change their possibilities, we changed some of our own?

SUPPORT & INSPIRATION

You can start by simply sponsoring a pair of shoes for a kid who doesn’t have any, or buying a T-shirt.  I have already raised enough money to cover my travel costs, so any amount, no matter how small, will go directly to providing for the kids physical needs. 

I was talking to a student yesterday about helping others and she said “I would, but I don’t have any money”.  Yet, she was holding a Starbucks in her hand.  She has one almost everyday.  OK, it’s her money (or her parents) and she can spend it any way she wants.  I just wonder, if she gave up one Starbucks, or even better one a week, to help someone else, would she feel better about herself?  Would she feel more engaged in life?  More confident about her ability to make a difference?  Maybe we don’t realize how much we have and how much we can give back right now.

I’m not just talking about money.  I can tell you for sure when Hailey was crying, I could connect with her on such a deep level, because I, too, saw my father die.  There is a reason for the things we go through – so think about it. . .Why did you survive cancer?  Why did someone close to you die?  Why were you abused?

Why you?  Maybe, in part, to allow you to connect with others in a very human way. 

I want to thank you for allowing me to share My Journey with you.  Some of your teachers passed out cards where you wrote some of your goals and ideas.  I’ve read many of them, and I’m impressed.  These cards show this isn’t just a school full of spoiled, rich kids, it’s a school with kids who have big dreams and big hearts.  Kids ready for a journey. 

For those of you who didn’t fill out cards, I want to encourage you to think about what your journey is.  Where will you go?  What will you take with you?  What will you bring back?  Whose shoes will you walk in and what difference will you make?  What kind of world do you want to live in as an adult?   And how do you get there?

One thing my visit to the hospital brought home to me was that none of us know how long we have.  The death of Hayley’s dad reminded  me to live fully now.  Give back now.  Not put off til tomorrow, til I’m older, my chances to make a difference.  MY JOURNEY.

I’ll close with one more question, when are you going to start?  I can answer that for you.  Your journey started TODAY.

Over 300 students were there 
And we raised $600.00:)

Thank you all for your donations!