WEBVTT

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Hello everyone.

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Today I would like to start off
with this picture here.

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This picture was taken
from a very high spot.

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It was taken 30 kilometres
away from Earth,

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by a Thai who brought a camera up there.

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And what you can see
at the bottom is our Thailand.

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You can notice
that even it was taken during the day,

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the upper part is dark,
but at the bottom part it is blue.

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Because the balloon
was nearly hit the space.

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When we talk about space,

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many people may think that it is scary
and seems mysterious.

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Yet on the other side, it is challenging.

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It makes some people want
to explore for the truth of space,

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and where is its frontier?

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But this view, although it is beautiful,

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not many people
have seen it through naked eyes.

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Most people only see it
through pictures like this one

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and those people are astronauts,

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who maybe work
in the International Space Station

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and look down to see our world.

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However, that is
a very small group of people.

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Historically, the first man in space
was Yuri Gagarin.

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Since then, 53 years have passed,

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not more than 600 people have seen
our world from up there.

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Now, the astronauts, in our view,
are strong tall males.

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And the truth is, in most cases,

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the selected astronauts we have seen
are the ones from powerful nations,

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such as the United States of America
or the Soviet Union

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at the time of the cold war.

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But who would have thought

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that a small woman from a country

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where no one has ever
been to space before

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has a chance to go to the space next year.

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That is my humble self.

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(Applause)

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(Cheers)

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Thank you.

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Now, let me tell you something
about this story.

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This project I participated in
was sponsored by Axe.

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The Axe Apollo Academy is going
to take the first Thai to the space.

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The first time I heard about this project,
I thought that this is my dream.

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The dream I want to make it come true.

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Something I really want it to happen,
but also something least likely to happen.

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They said, first, you have to be
the chosen one of your country.

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You have to go to a camp,

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where we then select the ones
to go to the space.

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So first, I have to make my way
in this camp.

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Thailand selected candidates
by three means.

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I was a winner of "Fan-Pan-Tae"

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which is a Game Show
well-known in Thailand.

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We had to answer questions
within three seconds.

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If you want to see it,
you can watch a rerun.

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After that, we actually went
to a camp in Florida.

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It was a base camp
that was very near to the NASA

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and we also used some facilities
in the NASA building.

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This is to let you see
how we were doing there.

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The conditions of the real camp.

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As mention earlier, the candidates
from 62 countries worldwide came together.

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These are the pictures of the atmosphere.

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There are 107 people from 62 countries.

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Those were selected from a million,
who were interested in this project.

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There were three people representing
Thailand; I was the only woman.

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There were four women in the whole camp.

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We were split up to form the teams
to do various activities.

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Activities that will test
whether you can go to space.

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The first one I have done.

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That day, I got up at four
and went from Orlando to Kissimmee

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and went on the plane like this one.

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I was on the plane while filming this.

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The plane was like the military plane.

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That was something I have already
experienced before when I was in Thailand.

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Back then, I had never been
on a military plane before.

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I had to sit there,
and then they roll inverted.

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That is when you experience
the G-Force, people talking about.

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I had heard some said
that the G-Force is really strong,

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but then I thought that if the pilot
can bear it, I can bear it, too.

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But I had a moment of realization
when I actually experienced it.

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When you make a five G inverted roll,
you are five times heavier.

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For example, I weight 50 kilograms,

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at that moment,
I suddenly weighted 250 kilograms.

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The weight is not that hard to bear,

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but when a lot of your blood
flows to your feet,

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you realize that if you are
not holding tight, you may get fainted.

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After the strong G-Force,
it is time to experience Zero-Force,

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a state of weightless.

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This is a Boeing 737,
of which the seats have been removed.

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This is not an ordinary flight, it makes
you feel like the plane is falling down.

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Everyone inside was floating around.

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It looks like fun,

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but some had to thrown up
because they could not bear it.

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Apart from activities like these,
which test your capability,

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they also want to see
if you are strong enough.

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So they took the assault course,

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which is actually
a military assault course

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used in the military practice.

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We had to climb, jump over hurdles,

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crawl underneath nets,
did sit-ups, push-ups, and skip rope.

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Approximately ten activities in a row.

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Women and men had to do
exactly the same activities.

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And for me, the sport I do

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- I am 30 years old -

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is usually yoga.

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But I had to do those activities.

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I remember that Dennis was next to me.

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I could not climb over the climbing wall,
I just did not know how.

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Do I have to use both hands or do I have
to push myself up using my feet?

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The coordination of your body
must be just right.

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Once it starts, every man made the way up,
while I kept falling down.

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My legs were about
half the length of theirs.

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Everybody was so tall.

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At that moment, I was losing my faith.

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They told us that from 107
selected candidates in this camp

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only 23 will be chosen to go to space.

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So if I could not do
any of these activities,

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it means that I am likely to loose
the ticket to space.

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In this picture, you may see
that I was at the bottom

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and Dennis had to come down to pull me up,

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"You can still climb, you can do it."

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So I managed to climb up: sit-ups,
push-ups, or carrying sacks,

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we all had to do the same things,

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For me, I feel that this is really hard,

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because I am a woman,
and I have never done such things before.

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I almost fainted but then I thought,

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if I have already made it this far,
I have to do my best.

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Finally, I was awarded
with one of the 23 tickets

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to fly to space next year.

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Next to me

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(Applause)

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- Thank you -

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...next to me is Mister Buzz Aldrin,

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who was the second man
on the Moon, after Neil Armstrong.

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He was also in the Apollo 11 mission.

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It was a big honour
that he gave us award that day.

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This is the most miraculous story
that ever happen in my entire life.

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After that, many people asked,
"Aren't you afraid of going to space?

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How can you be so brave?"

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But for me, I see myself

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as a normal person, who maybe
puts more effort into things.

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Rather than asking if I am afraid, ask me
if there is anything I am not scared of.

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From the beginning,
when I had to win the gameshow.

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You have to understand

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that I am just a nerdy person
who works as an ordinary engineer,

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but then I had to be on TV,
participating in a game show.

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I really had to try very hard.

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That is why I wanted
to tell you something.

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We all have a comfort zone.
I am sure you have heard of it before.

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It is the space where
we can be comfortable.

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Our everyday routine is in this zone.

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I also have one.

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But one day, you have to step out
of your comfort zone.

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A lot of people do not dare to step out.

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I was also one who felt that this is scary
and I do not dare to step out.

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But when I was forced
to make a big decision;

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either try or I let the golden opportunity
I ever dreamed of slip through my hands.

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So I slowly expanded
my horizon until I entered

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the where-the-magic happens zone,
where my miraculous story happened.

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But if I am asked
whether the magic immediately happens,

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I have to say it does not.

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Before that - I have to share
with you a little experience -

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before that I was living in Lampang,
I was a normal child from the countryside.

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The first time I left my country,
I was an apprentice at Intel in India.

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I had to live in India for a year.

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Many parents would not allow
their daughter to go there,

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but since they are my parents
they told me, "That's OK, dear. Just go."

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So I was part of the team
that got a training in India for a year.

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Another time was when I had
the opportunity to study in France.

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The hard part was
that everything is in French,

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and I could not speak
a single French word.

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I had to learn French,
from the beginning, within four months

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then started to study
for my master degree, all in French.

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All my classmates were French.

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Back then, everyone told me,

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"You can not succeed.
You are really struggled.

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You should learn French again
for a year and come back later."

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But I insisted, "Please let me continue.
Let me prove myself."

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And in the end, I managed to graduate
with all my other classmates.

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So I discovered that sometimes,

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the limitations that people told us
or the conditions we impose ourselves,

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are not really there.

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Do you still remember what you wanted
to be when you was a child?

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When I received my space ticket,

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I had opportunities
to visit schools and universities

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to tell the students my story.

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And I realized that those who are
most excited by this story

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are the children.

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And they felt that these stories
can actually happen.

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This is their dream.

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They also want to be astronauts.

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But as we grow up,

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we tend to forget about our dreams,
and what we wanted to become.

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Today I would ask you again

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- the last slide, please -

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What did you want to be
when you were young?

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Or also, for now, what is your dream?

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Have your dreams already been fulfilled?

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If not, I want to tell you to dare,

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to get out and follow your dreams.

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Because there is nobody who is not afraid.

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I was also afraid,
but what I did is I dared to do,

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even though I was afraid.

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Try expand your comfort zone,
stretch it out.

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Because every time
when you do it, you will grow.

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There may be mistakes.

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I also admit that there are
many mistakes in my life.

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And who has never done anything wrong?

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I don't think there is.

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If there were such people,
I think they are facing a real problem

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because errors are always part of success.

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I want to encourage all of you
to follow your dream,

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no matter what it is,
no matter how far it would be.

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Although others said it is impossible,

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there is only you
who can say it is possible.

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Get up and make your dreams come true.

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Thank you.

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(Applause)