Learning By Doing
At the 2021 Speaker Slam® Grand Slam, the Inspirational Speaking Finals held at Paradise Theatre in Toronto, Yvette Raposo took the stage with a five minute story and was named #2 Inspirational Speaker of the Year.
Transcript
you're going to do what but how are you going to get a job like a real job with benefits so that you can take care of yourself and support yourself i'm 19 and i just told my mother that i'm dropping out of university to pursue a career in boxing we are standing in the kitchen face-to-face going toe-to-toe deliberating about my future but mom boxing is more than just fighting for me it gives me confidence it boosts my self-esteem it gives me focus direction it gives me something to practice and improve upon and be proud of it gives me purpose i go on to explain all
the reasons why i don't want to stay in school to my mother whose deepest desire when she was my age was to receive a formal education before i was born she emigrated here from a far away village growing up at a time when little girls weren't allowed to go to school my grandfather denied her that right and decided for her that she was going to become a seamstress just like her mother so she did she went on for decades mastering her craft working her skills and building up a reputation as still one of the most highly sought after dressmakers and alterations expert in this country
she created beautiful works of art she contributed to society possibly in a way that she couldn't have if she had taken a different route and she still does it with exquisite integrity her work is sure to leave behind an impressive legacy her name is farranda but all the accomplishments in the world would never erase what is still her biggest regret i felt so guilty for so long as if i didn't appreciate this opportunity that i was given that she was denied except i love learning i respect credentials and i value education i just didn't want to be sitting in a classroom i knew exactly where
i wanted to be so i enrolled into the school of hard knocks the boxing gym became my lessons avoiding punches was my teacher instead of writing essays i was writing my own story instead of following a curriculum i devised a game plan after being undefeated in competition i went on for the next 20 years of my career teaching leading speaking training inspiring empowering changing lives and even breaking barriers in my sport in 2018 i became the first ever female professional boxing ring announcer in canada don't you see instead of a degree i was recording my own pedigree blood sweat and years dedicated to my craft
just like my mother did sometimes in life we box ourselves inside of someone else's square sometimes we squeeze into a dress that looks really good but feels so uncomfortable no offense mom my mom eventually stopped making me dresses this woman who gave birth to me sowed this for me she was showing me all along how to stay true to my birth rate which as adults is to make decisions that work for us instead of working around all the decisions made for us and she is here tonight thank you mom you
Transcript generated from the recording and lightly cleaned. Some names and wording may differ from the spoken speech.