Secretary-General urges participants in global classroom to ‘dream big’

in striving for a better, more just world

 

Following is the text of UN Secretary-General Ban Ki-Moon’s video message to the Global Classrooms Meeting in Los Angeles today, 6 June:

I regret that I am not able to join you.  You will understand why:  the humanitarian emergency in Myanmar; the earthquake in China; our Summit on the global food crisis in Rome.

The fact that you are here today says a great deal about you.  Each of you is showing concern for the world at large.  You are thinking about the problems we face, as humankind, and you are thinking about solutions.  For this I salute you.

When I was a young man, I participated in a Model United Nations.  I dreamed, then, of one day becoming Secretary-General.  Little did I imagine that it would happen.

Now it is your turn to dream.  You are here to step into the shoes of United Nations ambassadors -- to draft resolutions, to plot strategy, to negotiate with your allies, as well as your adversaries, to navigate formal rules of procedure.  Your goal may be to resolve a conflict, to cope with a natural disaster or to bring nations together on an issue like climate change.

You may be playing a role, but you are also preparing for life.  You are acting as global citizens.  Some of you may make these issues your life’s work.  Perhaps you will help people, as the United Nations is trying to do in Myanmar.  Perhaps you will become champions of human rights.  You may become journalists or diplomats, or work for the United Nations.  Perhaps there is a future Secretary-General among you.

No matter what you choose, I urge you to dream big.  Not to make the most money, or to become the most famous, but to help the most people.

Our world is a beautiful and wondrous place, but it is also full of hardship and human suffering.  By being here you have already shown that you care -- the first step toward making the world a more just and better place.

Ours is not the easiest road to travel.  But I tell you straight:  it is the most rewarding.

I wish you a splendid life’s journey.

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For information media • not an official record