0:00:05.876,0:00:08.377
What place do you want[br]to have in the world?

0:00:08.378,0:00:10.568
Have you ever asked yourself[br]this question?

0:00:10.570,0:00:14.277
At some point in high school,[br]my history professor,

0:00:14.292,0:00:18.368
who was also teaching on life project,[br]asked me this question,

0:00:18.369,0:00:20.975
"What's the place you want [br]to occupy in the world?"

0:00:20.977,0:00:22.266
I didn't know the answer.

0:00:22.267,0:00:24.873
I couldn't imagine that thinking about it

0:00:24.874,0:00:29.541
could disclose such possibilities[br]of growth and future.

0:00:30.751,0:00:32.807
I come from a very poor family,

0:00:32.834,0:00:37.084
most of them coming from Rondônia,[br]where they worked in the fields.

0:00:37.085,0:00:40.365
And, when I was around one,[br]they came to São Paulo.

0:00:40.366,0:00:43.288
In spite of all the difficulties[br]my family faced everyday,

0:00:43.289,0:00:45.723
they always insisted [br]in giving me the best.

0:00:45.724,0:00:48.466
and they've always given me[br]all the support I needed.

0:00:48.467,0:00:51.852
I have to thank them for everything.

0:00:51.853,0:00:53.343
Near my house,

0:00:53.344,0:00:56.603
there was a school where I started [br]my primary school classes.

0:00:56.604,0:01:01.223
That school was considered[br]the worst school of my area.

0:01:01.236,0:01:03.958
Most professors were not reliable,

0:01:03.959,0:01:07.543
classes were canceled,[br]and there was general disinterest.

0:01:07.564,0:01:10.545
Of course, I wasn't remotely motivated.

0:01:11.485,0:01:13.903
When time came to go [br]to the secondary school,

0:01:13.904,0:01:16.540
A new school appeared,[br]next to the other one,

0:01:16.542,0:01:20.251
a full-time school called Jardim Riviera.

0:01:20.280,0:01:21.658
I've always liked studying,

0:01:21.667,0:01:25.042
but most of my friends[br]were still in the old school.

0:01:25.043,0:01:27.649
So I wondered: should I go or not?

0:01:28.033,0:01:32.458
And then there was my mother,[br]who wanted me heaps to go,

0:01:32.459,0:01:34.498
saying that I had to make a change.

0:01:34.499,0:01:38.544
I changed school, [br]and, consequently, my life changed.

0:01:39.614,0:01:43.750
The new school was public too,[br]but it was far better.

0:01:43.751,0:01:47.669
And, from the very beginning,[br]I felt welcome in the extreme.

0:01:47.709,0:01:52.249
There I came across a project[br]called 'Protagonismo Juvenil',

0:01:52.250,0:01:55.792
that is a project in which young students[br]with academic distinction

0:01:55.793,0:01:58.710
have the opportunity[br]to influence other youth

0:01:58.751,0:02:02.495
and those youth disseminate[br]what they've learnt in their own schools.

0:02:02.496,0:02:04.216
During my secondary school years,

0:02:04.217,0:02:06.671
I ended up being [br]one of the main representatives

0:02:06.672,0:02:10.709
of São Paulo State[br]in terms of juvenile protagonism.

0:02:11.562,0:02:15.558
Now, that project woke my proactive side.

0:02:15.569,0:02:18.480
And as in the school there were [br]also elective courses,

0:02:18.481,0:02:20.569
the possibility to choose what I wanted

0:02:20.584,0:02:24.251
made me decide to attend a course[br]called Pre-Induction Science Program.

0:02:24.556,0:02:26.729
Among the possible projects,

0:02:26.730,0:02:29.729
working with plants was [br]one of the most reachable.

0:02:29.730,0:02:32.701
So, I walked to a park near my house

0:02:32.709,0:02:36.291
and there I bumped into [br]a huge tree called 'embaúba'

0:02:36.292,0:02:40.001
that, according to conventional wisdom,[br]had catheterizing properties.

0:02:41.042,0:02:44.876
The embaúba is an endemic tree of Brazil.

0:02:44.889,0:02:48.488
Everybody knows it,[br]it's a plant that has many properties.

0:02:48.489,0:02:51.002
Even people of my family knew it.

0:02:51.732,0:02:53.162
Surfing the Internet,

0:02:53.167,0:02:54.692
I saw that the hypothesis

0:02:54.692,0:02:57.752
of the catheterizing property [br]was coming true.

0:02:57.752,0:03:01.695
But there was nothing scientific about it.

0:03:01.696,0:03:05.579
How come? Such an important[br]tree and nothing scientific about it?

0:03:05.580,0:03:08.383
It was exactly what I needed[br]to start my project.

0:03:08.392,0:03:12.540
After the starting idea, I thought [br]about the best way to use the plant.

0:03:12.541,0:03:18.413
So I made tea, juice, balm, soap,[br]I even made recycled paper with it.

0:03:18.414,0:03:20.785
I was running out of ideas.

0:03:21.690,0:03:26.241
The tea had still an acceptable taste,[br]but, in big quantities,

0:03:26.253,0:03:28.371
it has hallucinogenic potential.

0:03:28.371,0:03:29.491
Don't try this at home!

0:03:29.491,0:03:30.601
(Laughter)

0:03:30.601,0:03:35.751
The juice had a horrible taste,[br]so no one would try it out.

0:03:35.752,0:03:39.022
But, ladies, they say [br]it's good for weight loss.

0:03:39.470,0:03:43.292
The balm, I tested it,[br]gave results for sure,

0:03:43.293,0:03:48.627
and I saw that there was a chance[br]of developing a wonderful project.

0:03:48.628,0:03:52.073
Since I didn't have a laboratory[br]where to develop my research,

0:03:52.074,0:03:53.738
I had to look for partnerships.

0:03:53.751,0:03:56.426
I found partnerships [br]with some universities,

0:03:56.426,0:03:58.496
among them, UNIFESP;

0:03:58.496,0:04:02.166
they helped me[br]to develop my project better.

0:04:02.167,0:04:06.751
I did the specie identification,[br]the pharmacological properties mapping,

0:04:06.774,0:04:08.819
I did a battery of tests.

0:04:08.834,0:04:12.293
And, at last, I proved[br]embaúba was catheterizing.

0:04:13.293,0:04:17.149
I won many prizes,[br]I also published a scientific article.

0:04:17.151,0:04:20.709
Today, many students [br]of that school do research,

0:04:20.709,0:04:23.027
and my project is an example[br]for many of them.

0:04:23.028,0:04:24.907
I am really proud of this.

0:04:24.908,0:04:31.425
With all that encouragement[br]to do research,

0:04:31.426,0:04:34.772
I lived the secondary school years[br]wishing to attend Pharmacy.

0:04:34.788,0:04:38.186
I, who came from [br]the worst school of my area,

0:04:38.187,0:04:41.840
passed all the entrance exams I did.

0:04:41.841,0:04:43.272
Did I choose Pharmacy? No.

0:04:43.892,0:04:46.291
I stopped, meditated, and decided

0:04:46.292,0:04:50.443
Engineering was something more related[br]to what I wanted for my future.

0:04:50.831,0:04:55.850
Today I'm 18, I'm coursing my second year,

0:04:55.851,0:04:58.662
and I want to graduate [br]in Energy Engineering.

0:04:58.663,0:05:03.288
Because I can't stand to know a country [br]with a territorial extension like this,

0:05:03.288,0:05:05.570
with such climatic diversities

0:05:05.570,0:05:09.482
is still using thermoelectric energy,[br]in good weather periods.

0:05:09.482,0:05:13.328
And at the same time, it has so little[br]matrix energetics diversification.

0:05:13.626,0:05:16.626
Even now, I don't have the answer[br]for that initial question.

0:05:16.626,0:05:21.681
But, thanks to my education, I discovered[br]that my strongest will is growing up

0:05:21.681,0:05:24.190
and making life better[br]for the people around me.

0:05:24.521,0:05:27.876
In my life, there have been [br]two kinds of schools.

0:05:28.187,0:05:31.230
But this has never demotivated[br]nor stopped me.

0:05:31.667,0:05:35.585
So, today I want to serve as inspiration[br]for as many youth as possible,

0:05:35.602,0:05:39.124
just like other people inspired me[br]during my entire life.

0:05:39.125,0:05:42.292
I want youth to believe in their talent

0:05:42.296,0:05:44.195
and in their hard work.

0:05:44.196,0:05:49.041
I wish they looked for their dreams[br]and changed their lives and the world.

0:05:49.042,0:05:52.269
People should never ever say [br]that someone's dreams are rubbish.

0:05:52.270,0:05:55.578
It would be a pity[br]if everyone believed this.

0:05:55.579,0:05:57.270
You are as big as your dream.

0:05:57.271,0:06:00.470
It doesn't matter where you came from,[br]where you were born.

0:06:00.471,0:06:04.316
If you have a dream and move mountains[br]to achieve what you want,

0:06:04.535,0:06:07.078
believe me, things will happen.

0:06:07.375,0:06:10.326
Do you know Alice in Wonderland?

0:06:10.327,0:06:12.415
Do you remember the cat?

0:06:12.416,0:06:15.415
"Which way you ought to go[br]depends on where you want to get to."

0:06:15.416,0:06:19.877
So, the question is this:[br]what's your dream?

0:06:19.878,0:06:22.826
And what's the place[br]you want to have in the world?

0:06:22.826,0:06:24.132
Thank you very much.

0:06:24.132,0:06:25.271
(Applause)