WEBVTT 00:00:22.067 --> 00:00:24.134 Ladies and gentlemen, 00:00:24.134 --> 00:00:29.513 I'm here representing the element earth and Latvian identity. 00:00:29.991 --> 00:00:33.480 And yet the person who stands before you 00:00:33.481 --> 00:00:39.174 left her native city Riga at the age of 6 00:00:39.175 --> 00:00:43.031 only to return to it at the age of 60 00:00:43.546 --> 00:00:47.591 and to be elected president 8 months later. 00:00:47.592 --> 00:00:52.633 President of a country without ever having belonged to a political party, 00:00:53.496 --> 00:00:57.865 without having undergone an election campaign 00:00:57.866 --> 00:01:01.735 which we normally think of as a part of a democratic process, 00:01:02.104 --> 00:01:06.488 without having spent a red cent in election expenses, 00:01:06.489 --> 00:01:10.116 [is] not exactly your typical political path. 00:01:10.873 --> 00:01:16.027 However, the path that I did follow 00:01:16.028 --> 00:01:20.583 has given me some unique experiences and insights. 00:01:21.026 --> 00:01:24.414 And it is those that I'd like to share with you, 00:01:24.415 --> 00:01:28.565 in spite of the fact that the earth on which I was born, 00:01:28.566 --> 00:01:33.196 the ground that my feet were treading for most of my life, 00:01:33.198 --> 00:01:36.248 was not that of my native land, 00:01:36.249 --> 00:01:41.609 but was scattered across 6 different countries 00:01:41.610 --> 00:01:44.070 on 3 different continents, 00:01:44.071 --> 00:01:45.960 where in the course of time 00:01:45.961 --> 00:01:49.830 I had to acquire 5 different languages 00:01:49.831 --> 00:01:53.213 and drop a few on the way which I didn't quite master. 00:01:54.432 --> 00:01:58.581 How in all this strange pattern 00:01:58.582 --> 00:02:02.399 could one become president of a country 00:02:02.400 --> 00:02:05.483 and an expert in its identity 00:02:05.484 --> 00:02:08.477 would seem like a paradox, 00:02:08.478 --> 00:02:13.451 but, alas, it's but one of three main patterns of identity 00:02:13.452 --> 00:02:17.998 that the Latvian nation has developed 00:02:17.999 --> 00:02:20.452 because of historical events 00:02:20.453 --> 00:02:24.776 as a consequence of the Second World War. 00:02:24.777 --> 00:02:29.918 After the first occupation and the annexation by the Soviet Union, 00:02:29.919 --> 00:02:32.289 the following Nazi occupation, 00:02:32.290 --> 00:02:36.569 involvement of Latvians in both sides of the warring parties 00:02:36.570 --> 00:02:39.395 against international conventions, 00:02:39.396 --> 00:02:42.476 and then three patterns developed. 00:02:42.477 --> 00:02:45.846 Some, like my parents and those of my husband, 00:02:45.847 --> 00:02:50.658 left and went into exile with their children, hoping to return 00:02:50.659 --> 00:02:55.539 when the international community would ensure Latvia's independence again, 00:02:55.540 --> 00:02:57.491 which of course did not happen. 00:02:57.492 --> 00:03:00.111 Poor souls had never heard 00:03:00.112 --> 00:03:04.261 of the protocols of the Molotov–Ribbentrop Pact 00:03:04.262 --> 00:03:08.422 and even less, of Yalta and Tehran where the Allies had been involved. 00:03:09.462 --> 00:03:14.701 The second pattern was of those who were forcibly deported to Siberia. 00:03:14.702 --> 00:03:19.370 Their lives have been documented in films and documentaries; 00:03:21.010 --> 00:03:24.239 if you stay in Latvia, you'll have the occasion to see 00:03:24.240 --> 00:03:28.669 during our Song Festival which is upcoming in a few weeks. 00:03:28.670 --> 00:03:32.229 Finally, of course, the majority of people stayed here in Latvia, 00:03:32.230 --> 00:03:37.190 but stayed here in a country that was submitted to totalitarian rule, 00:03:37.200 --> 00:03:40.319 to a foreign occupation and military presence, 00:03:40.320 --> 00:03:44.300 and an imposed ideology and economic system. 00:03:45.275 --> 00:03:48.494 I speak mostly, of course, from a perspective; 00:03:48.495 --> 00:03:51.234 first of those who went into exile, 00:03:51.235 --> 00:03:55.739 but then of those who returned and tried to heal 00:03:55.740 --> 00:03:59.699 the various separate parts of our nation, 00:03:59.700 --> 00:04:03.030 the branches that had been cut off from the common tree, 00:04:03.031 --> 00:04:07.720 to remind them all that they do grow from the same historical soil, 00:04:07.721 --> 00:04:11.010 the same past, the same cultural traditions, 00:04:11.011 --> 00:04:15.550 and that those are the ones that essentially give us our identity. 00:04:15.551 --> 00:04:20.958 But my own identity formation was by no means an easy path, 00:04:20.959 --> 00:04:24.712 and this is why I spent much of my spare time 00:04:24.713 --> 00:04:28.012 - apart, of course, from my career, my academic career 00:04:28.013 --> 00:04:34.031 as a loyal, contributing, and reasonably successful Canadian academic - 00:04:34.032 --> 00:04:40.011 I spent much of my time struggling to bring up my children, 00:04:40.012 --> 00:04:43.561 born abroad from the Latvian point of view, 00:04:43.562 --> 00:04:48.093 born in Montreal, native-born Canadians at that rate, 00:04:48.094 --> 00:04:49.445 and other: 00:04:49.446 --> 00:04:52.929 the children of many other Latvians in different continents 00:04:52.930 --> 00:04:58.009 - South America, Australia, Europe, the United States, Canada - 00:04:58.010 --> 00:05:00.265 to try and inculcate in them 00:05:00.266 --> 00:05:04.431 a sense of what it means to be a Latvian and why. 00:05:04.432 --> 00:05:10.831 And I came to the conclusion that identity is a complex process 00:05:10.832 --> 00:05:12.971 where being Latvian, 00:05:12.972 --> 00:05:18.517 or German, or American, or Chinese, or anything whatever, 00:05:18.518 --> 00:05:23.811 is only one of the layers of something like an onion in your psyche, 00:05:23.812 --> 00:05:28.556 where each of you, each of us 00:05:28.557 --> 00:05:33.356 are a part of many groups, 00:05:33.357 --> 00:05:38.496 conglomerates, associations, identities. 00:05:38.497 --> 00:05:41.470 We belong to many, many people 00:05:41.471 --> 00:05:45.730 with whom we can identify in a multiplicity of ways. 00:05:45.731 --> 00:05:52.199 We are in fact more like the bulb of a lily than that of an onion. 00:05:52.200 --> 00:05:54.509 Lilies having these different scales, 00:05:54.510 --> 00:05:58.349 and those are part of different aspects of our personality. 00:05:58.350 --> 00:06:03.100 But there are some essential elements of identity that remain constant. 00:06:03.101 --> 00:06:06.851 One of them is what I call the automatic. 00:06:07.890 --> 00:06:13.759 The natural, as it were, identity that the children acquire as they grow up 00:06:13.760 --> 00:06:19.574 and are socialized by their family, by their immediate surroundings, 00:06:19.575 --> 00:06:22.433 the extended family if they have one, 00:06:22.434 --> 00:06:24.731 later kindergarten, school, 00:06:24.732 --> 00:06:28.361 the other children on the street, society at large, 00:06:28.362 --> 00:06:30.590 and nowadays increasingly 00:06:30.591 --> 00:06:35.679 by the electronic media of communication of various sorts. 00:06:35.680 --> 00:06:38.781 The child develops a sense of self. 00:06:39.435 --> 00:06:43.516 Each child looks in the mirror and at some point says: 00:06:43.517 --> 00:06:50.206 "Ah, that is little Annie," or little Susie, or little Tommy. 00:06:50.207 --> 00:06:53.740 They know that they recognize themselves, 00:06:53.741 --> 00:06:56.915 and they acquire a sense of who they are. 00:06:56.916 --> 00:07:01.225 But it's much later that personal sense of belonging 00:07:01.226 --> 00:07:05.015 - of belonging to mommy or daddy, or grandma, or grandpa, 00:07:05.016 --> 00:07:09.155 or of living on a certain street, or in a certain countryside - 00:07:09.156 --> 00:07:11.561 is extended to a larger group. 00:07:11.562 --> 00:07:15.832 And this happens sooner or later depending on the circumstances. 00:07:15.839 --> 00:07:18.488 For my generation, as exile children, 00:07:18.489 --> 00:07:23.748 when we first encountered children belonging to different nationalities, 00:07:23.749 --> 00:07:27.939 we developed what I have called a reactive identity. 00:07:28.419 --> 00:07:30.719 When somebody points their finger at you 00:07:30.734 --> 00:07:34.134 and calls you a dirty foreigner, or a dirty Polak, and you say: 00:07:34.135 --> 00:07:36.900 "Hey, I'm not a Polak, I'm a Latvian," 00:07:36.901 --> 00:07:40.269 you realize who you are whether you would like it or not. 00:07:40.769 --> 00:07:42.014 Sometimes you like it 00:07:42.015 --> 00:07:45.128 because they're ready to play with you and they're quite friendly, 00:07:45.129 --> 00:07:46.708 and sometimes you do not, 00:07:46.709 --> 00:07:48.848 because they're ready to throw stones at you, 00:07:48.849 --> 00:07:50.848 run after you and try and beat you up. 00:07:50.849 --> 00:07:54.208 And you discover that not all people are equal, 00:07:54.209 --> 00:07:59.248 and by much as among your own people, you have some who, for instance, 00:07:59.249 --> 00:08:04.078 - in my case, going to a Latvian school in a refugee camp in Germany - 00:08:04.079 --> 00:08:07.758 some are friendlier than others, and so it is with foreigners. 00:08:07.759 --> 00:08:10.508 But when I befriended a little Estonian girl 00:08:10.509 --> 00:08:12.953 who had a curious little knitted cap 00:08:12.954 --> 00:08:17.123 with a geometric pattern and a sort of crown on top, 00:08:17.124 --> 00:08:21.558 - something like Anne Boleyn if you can think of her portraits - 00:08:21.559 --> 00:08:24.428 but a knitted cap with geometric designs, 00:08:24.429 --> 00:08:28.098 I thought it was cute, and I asked her: "How come you have such a cap, 00:08:28.099 --> 00:08:30.858 and I see all these other Estonian girls have such caps?" 00:08:30.859 --> 00:08:32.488 I thought they were nice. 00:08:32.489 --> 00:08:35.227 She said: "Well, Estonians wear them." 00:08:35.229 --> 00:08:38.801 And when I asked my mother could I get a cap like that, 00:08:38.802 --> 00:08:43.058 my mother told me: "Estonians wear them, Latvians do not." 00:08:43.058 --> 00:08:45.895 It was as simple as that, and much as I liked the cap, 00:08:45.896 --> 00:08:48.395 I was told: "No, you're not an Estonian, 00:08:48.396 --> 00:08:52.455 that is for Estonian girls, Latvian girls do not wear them." 00:08:52.456 --> 00:08:56.005 Later, in spreading across the different continents 00:08:56.006 --> 00:08:59.385 for refugee camps were closed in Germany, 00:08:59.386 --> 00:09:03.826 there were many almost tragic stories, certainly sad ones, 00:09:03.827 --> 00:09:08.363 of little girls starting to go to school, say, in Middle America, 00:09:08.364 --> 00:09:10.773 and being told by their mothers 00:09:10.774 --> 00:09:13.303 that decent little girls when they go to school 00:09:13.304 --> 00:09:17.103 must have long braids with ribbons 00:09:17.104 --> 00:09:19.913 and dresses with white colours and cuffs. 00:09:19.914 --> 00:09:22.892 When they arrived in school, they were shocked to see 00:09:22.893 --> 00:09:24.972 that everybody was pointing fingers at them 00:09:24.973 --> 00:09:29.493 and they were absolutely different from the other girls in school. 00:09:29.503 --> 00:09:33.542 When they told their mothers that's not how American girls are dressing, 00:09:33.543 --> 00:09:36.972 their mothers said: "But you are not an American, you are a Latvian." 00:09:36.973 --> 00:09:40.522 And the poor child then had a choice to decide 00:09:40.523 --> 00:09:44.012 whether to remain different and obey mamma, 00:09:44.013 --> 00:09:46.902 and remain within the Latvian community, 00:09:46.903 --> 00:09:50.992 or to rebel as soon as her age would allow it, 00:09:50.993 --> 00:09:54.301 turn her back on Latvian society and Latvian identity, 00:09:54.302 --> 00:09:56.961 and forget about it as quickly as she could. 00:09:56.962 --> 00:09:58.965 What I spent my life doing 00:09:58.966 --> 00:10:04.303 was trying to convince young people of Latvian origin, 00:10:04.304 --> 00:10:06.394 starting with my own children, 00:10:06.395 --> 00:10:10.344 but also convincing myself as I myself grew up 00:10:10.345 --> 00:10:15.014 - since I did grow up abroad and not in my native country - 00:10:15.015 --> 00:10:19.271 that there was a third form of identity which was a freely chosen one. 00:10:19.272 --> 00:10:23.459 And that is the one where you realize that belonging to a certain group 00:10:23.460 --> 00:10:27.999 - be it an ethnic group, a cultural heritage, a linguistic group - 00:10:28.000 --> 00:10:32.208 you may define it in different ways, but that what it does 00:10:32.209 --> 00:10:36.408 it opens doors to you that would otherwise be closed. 00:10:36.409 --> 00:10:38.688 That learning the Latvian language 00:10:38.689 --> 00:10:43.468 - practically you might say, spoken by so few people across the world, 00:10:43.469 --> 00:10:46.843 you'd be better off learning Chinese, no doubt - 00:10:46.844 --> 00:10:50.803 but for your identity and for your sense of well-being, 00:10:50.804 --> 00:10:55.283 for your roots being accessible to you, 00:10:55.284 --> 00:11:00.101 for that sense of belonging that comes from belonging to a community 00:11:00.102 --> 00:11:04.151 in which you have birthrights, - you belong to them by birthright - 00:11:04.152 --> 00:11:08.501 that is something that cannot be replaced by something else. 00:11:08.502 --> 00:11:11.301 You can become a new Canadian, 00:11:11.302 --> 00:11:14.861 an American naturalized citizen, 00:11:14.862 --> 00:11:18.671 you can travel to many lands and make a good living, 00:11:18.672 --> 00:11:20.621 and marry a local person, and fit in. 00:11:20.622 --> 00:11:22.691 And I have met many, many Latvians who said: 00:11:22.692 --> 00:11:25.771 "I married an American girl, I fell in love with her, 00:11:25.772 --> 00:11:30.253 but she did not like my going with other Latvians 00:11:30.254 --> 00:11:32.547 to various Latvian events, 00:11:32.548 --> 00:11:35.867 she wanted me to turn my back on them, and I thought to myself, 00:11:35.868 --> 00:11:39.177 'But she's turning her back on my identity. 00:11:39.178 --> 00:11:41.745 She's turning her back on who I am'." 00:11:41.746 --> 00:11:44.535 But who I am is not so easily defined. 00:11:44.536 --> 00:11:49.355 One of the things that, I think, defines who I am in that ethnic sense 00:11:49.356 --> 00:11:51.662 is, of course, that cultural heritage 00:11:51.663 --> 00:11:55.912 to which knowledge of language, knowledge of history, 00:11:55.913 --> 00:11:57.572 in our case, knowledge of folklore 00:11:57.573 --> 00:12:00.482 - since that is a good part of our heritage - 00:12:00.483 --> 00:12:04.942 those are the riches that are available to those 00:12:04.943 --> 00:12:08.602 who open that door of belonging to the Latvian nation 00:12:08.603 --> 00:12:13.902 quite freely and without having to make that forced choice. 00:12:13.903 --> 00:12:19.504 Being different from the others, one can blend in very easily. 00:12:19.505 --> 00:12:20.624 When you're a Latvian, 00:12:20.625 --> 00:12:23.964 in the great many countries you can blend in very nicely, 00:12:23.965 --> 00:12:26.154 nobody will ever know by looking at you 00:12:26.155 --> 00:12:28.484 that you are a Latvian or of Latvian origin. 00:12:28.485 --> 00:12:29.684 But you can keep 00:12:29.685 --> 00:12:32.684 - and this is what I tried to convince 00:12:32.685 --> 00:12:38.108 the youngsters from various countries that I came in contact with - 00:12:38.109 --> 00:12:41.274 you can keep as it were your secret garden: 00:12:41.275 --> 00:12:44.264 that Latvian identity that is your own. 00:12:44.265 --> 00:12:47.334 And that, of course, we would be more than happy 00:12:47.335 --> 00:12:49.874 to share with the rest of the world, 00:12:49.875 --> 00:12:54.224 if somehow we could help them to overcome the language barrier 00:12:54.225 --> 00:12:57.838 and they could get to know about what it has to offer. 00:12:57.839 --> 00:13:01.418 In my own case, I have done that as well. 00:13:01.419 --> 00:13:05.798 I have done my own small efforts, if you like, 00:13:05.799 --> 00:13:10.886 in terms of writing scholarly articles and books 00:13:10.887 --> 00:13:15.263 about the Latvian heritage, about the Latvian identity, 00:13:15.264 --> 00:13:19.226 and particularly about what in our Latvian folk songs 00:13:19.227 --> 00:13:24.026 makes them so extraordinary, so special, 00:13:24.027 --> 00:13:28.878 and so worth getting acquainted with, and so worth analyzing, 00:13:28.879 --> 00:13:33.688 and entering into that international non-material heritage 00:13:33.689 --> 00:13:37.692 which UNESCO now for several years has been recognizing. 00:13:39.249 --> 00:13:42.848 For those of you who are in Latvia for the next few weeks, 00:13:42.849 --> 00:13:48.694 I quite recommend going to the Latvian Song Festival, 00:13:48.695 --> 00:13:51.949 watching it on television, seeing it on video. 00:13:51.950 --> 00:13:54.279 What we see in the Latvian Song Festival 00:13:54.280 --> 00:13:59.719 is something that embodies the tradition of singing 00:13:59.720 --> 00:14:03.532 which had been a pillar of Latvian identity 00:14:03.533 --> 00:14:06.032 for a great many centuries, 00:14:06.033 --> 00:14:09.722 before Latvia ever became a nation. 00:14:09.723 --> 00:14:11.751 In the 19th century, 00:14:11.752 --> 00:14:17.832 when Latvians were still largely an oppressed class of society, 00:14:17.833 --> 00:14:21.855 they started singing in choirs. 00:14:21.856 --> 00:14:28.665 When the choirs got together regionally and organized song festivals, 00:14:28.666 --> 00:14:30.565 they came to realize 00:14:30.566 --> 00:14:36.015 that one daughter was born in Riga and another was born in Valmiera, 00:14:36.016 --> 00:14:38.045 but they were singing the same song, 00:14:38.046 --> 00:14:41.795 and they asked themselves the question that one of the folk songs asks: 00:14:41.796 --> 00:14:44.545 "Are they daughters of the same mother?" 00:14:44.546 --> 00:14:46.755 And yes, they are daughters of the same mother 00:14:46.756 --> 00:14:48.516 who is the Latvian nation. 00:14:48.986 --> 00:14:53.675 The singing and the coming together was one element that allowed them 00:14:53.676 --> 00:14:57.226 to become conscious of this Latvian identity. 00:14:57.700 --> 00:15:00.789 It allowed them to become conscious of the riches 00:15:00.790 --> 00:15:03.772 that that identity offered them 00:15:03.773 --> 00:15:07.356 quite apart from the condescension, 00:15:08.366 --> 00:15:13.330 and, in fact, the denigration that they had frequently suffered 00:15:13.331 --> 00:15:17.990 at the hands of those who had occupied the upper levels of society 00:15:17.991 --> 00:15:21.261 in the various occupying forces over the centuries. 00:15:21.571 --> 00:15:27.170 The Latvians recovered their sense of pride in themselves, 00:15:27.171 --> 00:15:31.533 not just their sense of an awareness of themselves as a nation. 00:15:32.797 --> 00:15:35.856 And through that awareness, they realized 00:15:35.857 --> 00:15:39.246 that they as a nation have the rights 00:15:39.247 --> 00:15:42.955 that belong to nations worldwide. 00:15:42.965 --> 00:15:45.894 And in many ways this coming together and singing 00:15:45.895 --> 00:15:48.534 led to the thought of Latvian independence, 00:15:48.535 --> 00:15:51.074 the creation of an independent Latvian nation, 00:15:51.075 --> 00:15:57.114 and the tradition that managed to survive through various foreign occupations, 00:15:57.115 --> 00:16:00.754 through various imposed ideologies, 00:16:00.755 --> 00:16:06.884 that managed to survive in Australia, America, in Europe elsewhere, 00:16:06.885 --> 00:16:10.184 behind the Iron Curtain, on the other side, 00:16:11.104 --> 00:16:14.699 the tradition helped us to maintain 00:16:14.700 --> 00:16:19.209 our sense of roots, our link with a past, 00:16:19.210 --> 00:16:23.951 the sense of inheritance and entitlement 00:16:23.952 --> 00:16:26.873 that being Latvian meant to us. 00:16:26.874 --> 00:16:31.848 And this sense of entitlement, of course, makes us also fully European. 00:16:32.258 --> 00:16:36.077 This is why as a president I worked so hard to ensure 00:16:36.078 --> 00:16:39.178 that Latvia became a member of the European Union. 00:16:39.688 --> 00:16:43.584 This is why since leaving office as president I have been 00:16:43.585 --> 00:16:47.414 such an ardent promoter of European unity. 00:16:47.415 --> 00:16:50.804 But I must say that in addition to that, 00:16:50.805 --> 00:16:56.414 I find that from my experience as president of a nation 00:16:56.415 --> 00:17:02.634 that I have acquired insights that are welcome elsewhere in the world, 00:17:02.635 --> 00:17:07.334 and I'm part of at least 3 different clubs and of great many organizations 00:17:07.335 --> 00:17:09.634 that have an international remit, 00:17:09.635 --> 00:17:12.714 that worry about the condition of women, 00:17:12.714 --> 00:17:17.074 that worry about transitions to democracy in various countries, 00:17:17.075 --> 00:17:21.284 and I find myself now with my Latvian identity 00:17:22.294 --> 00:17:25.357 laboring in the Lord's vineyards 00:17:25.358 --> 00:17:28.837 which are really those of a citizen of the world. 00:17:28.838 --> 00:17:34.127 So that having returned like Ulysses to the land of my birth, 00:17:34.128 --> 00:17:39.297 having been able to truly express my Latvian identity 00:17:39.298 --> 00:17:44.497 in a way that being born here should've predestined me for, 00:17:44.498 --> 00:17:49.667 I find myself also becoming a very ardent European, 00:17:49.668 --> 00:17:54.706 but, most of all, I find that all these experiences, 00:17:54.707 --> 00:17:58.956 those of my nation, those of myself as an individual, 00:17:58.957 --> 00:18:04.866 those of my compatriots who suffered by being deported or otherwise repressed, 00:18:04.867 --> 00:18:06.636 all those sufferings, 00:18:06.637 --> 00:18:11.176 that other nations both in Europe and elsewhere have gone through, 00:18:11.177 --> 00:18:14.776 have contributed in each case 00:18:14.777 --> 00:18:19.141 to developing our own sense of humanity. 00:18:19.752 --> 00:18:22.491 And I would leave you with this thought 00:18:22.492 --> 00:18:27.081 that be your identity what it may, 00:18:27.082 --> 00:18:30.792 it must start with a sense of your intrinsic value 00:18:31.432 --> 00:18:34.611 as a person, as a human being, 00:18:34.612 --> 00:18:37.799 as a citizen of the world, 00:18:37.800 --> 00:18:40.269 as a member of the human race. 00:18:40.270 --> 00:18:44.875 It is this belonging, this sense of brotherhood or sisterhood 00:18:44.876 --> 00:18:48.839 with people who may look entirely different from you, 00:18:48.840 --> 00:18:51.799 who have different values at times, 00:18:51.800 --> 00:18:54.449 certainly different experiences, 00:18:54.450 --> 00:19:00.772 but who after all have the same life path that any human being has. 00:19:01.492 --> 00:19:04.990 From birth through development, 00:19:04.991 --> 00:19:10.040 growth, a career, experiences, joys and sufferings, 00:19:10.041 --> 00:19:13.490 and then, of course, we leave the stage as Shakespeare says, 00:19:13.491 --> 00:19:15.990 having been but actors on the stage. 00:19:15.991 --> 00:19:20.098 I wish you all to spend your life 00:19:20.099 --> 00:19:23.458 looking for that solid ground under your feet, 00:19:23.459 --> 00:19:26.188 which is what your identity gives you. 00:19:26.189 --> 00:19:30.628 And remember, you don't have just one of them, you have many, 00:19:30.629 --> 00:19:35.332 and constantly, in the course of your life, you keep having choices. 00:19:35.333 --> 00:19:39.487 You can construct who you are and who you want to be. 00:19:39.488 --> 00:19:41.518 Godspeed to you all. 00:19:42.675 --> 00:19:44.405 (Applause)