Dubai resident Jessica Smith is a Paralympian, speaker, author and more. The Australian expat is an inspiration for many owing to her international advocacy for diversity and inclusion, disability awareness and positive body image.
Read the full story here: https://gulfnews.com/uae/education/gulf-news-edufair-jessica-smith-shares-her-journey-of-defying-the-odds-and-inspiring-others-1.1686919955359
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#UAEnews #Dubai #education
Read the full story here: https://gulfnews.com/uae/education/gulf-news-edufair-jessica-smith-shares-her-journey-of-defying-the-odds-and-inspiring-others-1.1686919955359
See more videos at https://gulfnews.com/videos
Read more Gulf News stories here: https://bit.ly/2HLJ2km
Subscribe to Gulf News on YouTube and watch more of our videos: https://www.youtube.com/user/GulfNewsTV
#UAEnews #Dubai #education
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NewsTranscript
00:00It's okay to not be okay, but I think what's really important is to communicate that and to make sure that we have a great support network behind us as we're making big, you know, decisions around the transition around our education and around our careers.
00:17We're at the Gulf News EduFair and with me is Jessica Smith. She's a Paralympian and a disability inclusion consultant. Thank you so much for coming here and being a guest speaker for us.
00:28So I'm excited to be here to be able to share a little bit about my story and hopefully inspire and empower younger generations to feel comfortable with who they are and the decisions that they're making as they go into that big transition into university.
00:42And, you know, it can be quite overwhelming at times. So I hope that by sharing parts of my story, it helps.
00:50It's okay to not be okay, but I think what's really important is to communicate that and to make sure that we have a great support network behind us as we're making big, you know, decisions around the transition around our education and around our careers.
01:05And if we can have a great support network with family and friends, I think it just makes everything that little bit easier.
01:10It's really important that people know not to be stressed if they don't know what they want to do.
01:15I think the best thing to help in that situation is to research as much as they can and to be able to ask a lot of questions of people who have made those decisions before them, you know, and to look for mentors and to look for allies and people that can help them guide their decisions.
01:30But at the end of the day, it is up to the individual, but they need to feel supported and empowered to make the decision that is right for them.
01:37I think that there's amazing opportunities for all of us.
01:40And what's changing in society now is that there's a lot more accessibility for people living with a disability, and that's really exciting.
01:47But we have to know, you know, who those people are and where those opportunities are.
01:51And again, that comes back down to communication and making sure that we're asking the questions that we want the answers to and making sure that we are talking to the right people.