Write Comment     |     E-Mail To a Friend     |     Facebook     |     Twitter     |     Print

Bajpe teen honored at 2014 Youth Oratorical Contest in USA

Rohan D’Souza was invited by Cincinnati Human Relations Commission (CHRC), to participate in the inaugural "2014 Youth Oratorical Contest" on November 15, at the Cincinnati City Hall Council Chambers. Rohan had the honor to share his thoughts on the theme :  "How My Generation Relates to the World".

The CHRC Vision is to have : "A Greater Cincinnati that is a safe, energetic, livable community of citizens who work together to overcome prejudice and build mutual respect". The Mission of CHRC is : "To help our community to  overcome prejudice and discrimination, build mutual respect and understanding, and become more harmonious and cohesive".

Rohan spoke on : "How my generation relates to standardized global social norms". During the 2014 Youth Oratorical Contest presentation Rohan said : "There is a new way of seeing the world. There is a new way which involves innovation, passion and ideas that are trendsetting.

Defying social norms for social change does not take talent but it does take conscious decision. We all try to "Be Normal" to fit in, which means most times everything that I do normal is not exactly boring  and dull, but it is actually what everybody else is also doing. By thinking out of the box  or  doing something differently to achieve a similar or better result actually involves creativity.

Society tells us what to think through the media and primarily family expectations are basis of social norms . Yet we have seen, "Different strokes for different folks" as a description rarely utilized to its full potential.

Life gives us choices to follow a simple known path "A", which has been the beaten path because traditionally a lot of people have chosen to follow and travel it before me or path "B" which looks like it may be difficult and untraveled.

Robert Frost once said : "And I chose to take the path less traveled". I will go further to say that I choose to make a path that people who come after me may choose to follow. I think trend setting makes it visible to the world the achievements, creativity, scholarship, and vibrancy that dreams, effort and perseverance can become. All great minds can think and rationalize, but once emotions are involved all thinking changes.

So though society lays down the guidelines of paths to follow, it is not set in stone. We can be leaders in making trends, setting the path for others to follow. Now, I do what I think is right and true to myself. But I do not do these things for other people but for myself. Do I hope that what I do sets trends? Sure, why not? But that is not why I do those things.

So , you can see that it does not take talent but a conscious decision to defy social norms set by social  media, Facebook, and twitter  and trending social expectations. By not conforming to social expectations, we can choose to take the path "B" which might be difficult and different from societal normal but true to our conscience and heart.

It is not necessary to do what everybody else is doing, what is expected, but to do what is right.

By doing something different you can stand apart from the crowd and be the leader the crowd follows or be the crowd. A leader or a follower..........the choice is yours".

The honor of participating  in the 2014 Youth Oratorical Contest empowered Rohan to learn researching skills, teamwork and public speaking abilities.

The  prestigious Inaugural 2014 Youth Oratorical  Contest program was organized by Jaime Bryant, CHRC Youth Service Coordinator and Dr. Ericka King-Betts, CHRC Executive Director.  

Rohan 16 a junior at Sycamore High School is the son of  Harold and Dancy D’Souza. The D’Souza family  hail from Bajpe, Mangalore and now live in Cincinnati, Ohio.