My journey to the North Pole and beyond | Jade Hameister | TEDxMelbourne

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Jade Hameister at just 14 years old became the youngest person to ski to the North Pole from anywhere outside the Last Degree. Jade wants young women to #expandpossible and to inspire and empower them to be more active and chase their dreams.

Jade is now determined to be the youngest person to complete the "Polar Hat Trick," comprising the North Pole, Greenland Crossing, and South Pole, all the way from the coast. She believes having an adventurous mind means being prepared to challenge outdated thinking, taking risks, and accepting failure as a possibility.

What if young women around the world

were encouraged to be more

rather than less?

What if the focus shifted

from how we appear

to the possibilities of what we can do?

As a young woman, I live in a world

where I'm constantly bombarded
with messages to be less,

to eat less, to wear less, to be skinnier,

to shrink my ambitions to fit in,

to wait for my Prince Charming
to come and save me,

or to avoid activities that are for boys

because I'm not strong enough or as tough.

These messages fuel
my fears and insecurities.

I am then left wondering all the time

whether I'm good enough
or whether I should just play it safe

so I don't end up
making myself look silly.

But imagine

if all the young women
in a particular country

took one step forward
in terms of the level of belief

in their own possibilities.

How much brighter
would the future of that country be?

Now imagine if all
the young women on this planet

took that same step forward
in their thinking

as to what is possible for themselves.

How much brighter would the future
of our world be for everyone?

That's adventurous thinking.

And by the way, it is so much more fun
to try and be more rather than less.

In April this year, at the age of 14,

I became the youngest person -
male, or female - in history

to have skied to the North Pole
from anywhere outside the Last Degree.

(Applause)

Thank you.

(Applause)

Thank you.

It was also the longest journey
to the Pole by any woman on the planet

in the last two years.

(Applause)

Thank you.

I dragged a sled that was as heavy as me,
over a distance of a 150 kilometers

as measured in a straight line
from the Pole, on skis,

in minus 30 degree temperatures.

A hundred and fifty Ks
might not sound too bad,

until you understand the environment
up there on the Arctic Ocean.

We had to never get our way
around or over compression zones

where sea ice has collided
to create ice rubble,

and sometimes, this ice rubble
can become walls of ice meters high.

We also had to find out our way
around open water leads,

where the sea ice's split.

Where we couldn't,
we had to build a bridge with our sleds,

or someone would swim across
in an immersion suit,

while the rest of us were pulled across
on a raft made from our sleds.

We were traveling on floating sea ice,

so the ocean currents
kept drifting us off-course,

and we were often hearing
the sea ice crack beneath us

and wondering
whether we would fall through

into the freezing ocean below.

We also crossed polar bear tracks,

and would stay awake at night
listening for them,

not that we could sleep well anyway,

as it is 24-hour daylight up there
this time of year.

And I'm not a skier either.

I only learned how to ski the year before,
on a three-day trip to New Zealand.

(Laughter)

There's not much snow where I live

so I trained virtually every day
for over a year beforehand,

including by dragging tires around,
which was pretty close to the real thing.

So, as you can imagine,
the going was slow and hard.

Aside from a few blisters, I lost
the feeling in the tips of my fingers,

which eventually came back

after all the skin
had died and peeled off.

And the worst part of all, I got frostnip
on my upper thigh and my bum

from having to expose myself
to the freezing cold and wind

every time I went to the toilet.

(Laughter)

But I loved it.

It was the best experience
of my life so far,

and I fell in love with this beautiful
yet fragile part of our planet.

And as much as I couldn't wait to get home
and see my family and friends,

I was really sad to leave.

Next April, my plan is to ski
540 kilometers across Greenland

at age 15,

and then, at the end of next year,

ski 1,170 kilometers from the coast
of Antarctica to the South Pole,

and by then, I'll be 16.

If I can get there,
aside from a few minor records,

I'll be the youngest person
to ski to both Poles

and to complete the Polar Hat Trick.

So, what have I learned
in my brief life so far

that might be worth sharing?

I have learned that all those messages
I received daily to be less are wrong.

I have learned that by expanding my dreams

it has been impossible
to think about shrinking.

Instead of focusing on how we look,

let's focus on what our bodies
and our minds can do

and discover the incredible possibilities

that we are capable of
and can contribute to this world.

There is nothing wrong
with wanting to improve your physique,

but the problem is when people sacrifice
their capability or their health

for the sake of fitting into

some visual standard
shaped by other people.

Let's make it about
what you do not how you look.

If you think about it,

the funny thing about many
popular fitness social media accounts

is that they post pictures of themselves

standing in front of a mirror
doing nothing.

(Laughter)

That's not inspiring.

That's just trying to make
the rest of us all feel bad.

I think it's much more inspiring

to see photos and videos of people
actually doing something.

Thank you.

(Applause)

So how do we change things?

How do we shift our focus?

For me, when I see other women
go forward despite fear,

I learn what is possible.

There are some amazing examples

of young women in history
choosing to be more.

But just as amazing to me

are the girls who manage to work
part-time while studying

to support their families;

girls who stand up
for what they believe in;

girls who get up in the dark each morning,

to train, to be the best
at the sport they love;

girls who stay up late studying hard
to make the most of their education;

any girl who refuses to buy into
the messaging to be less.

So if you are my parent, my relative,
my teacher, or my coach,

then I'm talking to you.

Don't be overprotective of me
just because I'm a girl.

Encourage me to take risks

in chasing dreams
that are important to me not to you.

The sisterhood -

let's celebrate the achievements
of our girlfriends.

Don't cut them down!

I've been amazed at the support
I have received from my friends.

But most important of all,
we must start with ourselves.

We are our own worst enemies.

We need to get out of our own way

and stop caring so much
about what other people think.

The truth is everybody else
is worried about

what everybody else thinks about them.

We need to focus on
what we want for ourselves

in line with our own personal values

not those of our parents, or our friends,
or of the school we attend.

Don't do it for others, do it for you.

To expand what we believe is possible,
we must have courage.

We must be prepared and willing to fail.

Don't wait until you think
you can do something perfectly,

just get started.

I had really only being skiing once
in my life before,

and then I tried to ski to the North Pole,

which is pretty funny
when I stop and think about it.

(Laughter)

I also tried peeing standing up
using a pee funnel in minus 20 degrees

and I failed miserably.

(Laughter)

I spent the rest of the day

skiing in pants that were covered
in my own frozen pee.

(Laughter)

Courage is not the absence of fear

but the willingness to take action

despite the presence
of fear or self-doubt.

Without bravery, our lives remain small.

So let's all commit to take
one step forward

in our thinking and our expectations

as to what is possible
for young women to achieve.

Let's constantly check ourselves

that we are focusing on
what we can do not how we appear.

All those small steps will soon add up,

and we will collectively expand
what is possible for young women

and as a result,
for the future of our world.

Thank you.

(Applause)