White House to East Coast: CBU Student Attends Barack Obama Event
On November 13, first-year Bachelor of Arts in Community Studies student, Sefin Stefura, was given the inspirational opportunity of a lifetime after winning tickets to US President Barack Obama鈥檚 speech in Halifax. Sefin says he couldn鈥檛 believe his eyes when he got the email finding out he had won.聽
Over the summer, Sefin was encouraged to apply for the contest, a process that involved writing two 500-word essays. The topics, 鈥渨hat would meeting Barack Obama mean to you?鈥� and 鈥渋f you had unlimited power as Prime Minister for a day, what would you do to help your 福利免费在线看?鈥� forced Sefin to think carefully about what is most important to him. For the second prompt, Sefin wrote about banning conversion therapy worldwide. Conversion therapy is the practice of changing one’s sexuality or gender identity through therapy, also known as 鈥淩eparative Therapy.鈥� This practice is performed under the guise that being a part of the LGBTQ+ 福利免费在线看 is a mental illness, despite the 鈥淚 chose this topic because it didn鈥檛 just apply to my 福利免费在线看, but the entire country,鈥� he explains. 鈥淏anning conversion therapy was the first thing I covered, followed by creating affordable housing, improving healthcare, and implementing a liveable minimum wage.鈥� His essay impressed judges, earning him tickets to the exciting event.聽
Sefin travelled to Halifax to join 9000 other lucky attendees who gathered to hear Obama speak. 鈥淚t was incredible,鈥� says Sefin. 鈥淗earing him speak was so inspiring. It鈥檚 great to see it on a TV screen but to have him there in person was incredible.鈥� Sefin says two specific moments stood out to him at the event, the first being Obama referencing the popular joke 鈥渙kay, boomer鈥� which sent the crowd into laughter. The second, Sefin says, is when Obama directly addressed the youth leaders in the room. 鈥淚t felt like he was speaking to me specifically because I was in that bracket,鈥� he explains.聽
Obama told attendees to embrace the mistakes throughout their journey, telling them it鈥檚 okay not to have life figured out by 28. This message impacted Sefin who says despite doing a lot of work at only 18, he struggles to feel accomplished. 鈥淚t reminded me that I鈥檓 doing an incredible amount for someone my age and I need to accept that,鈥� says Sefin. 鈥淚 left the event feeling inspired to change the country, not just my 福利免费在线看! I want to speak across Canada and help others.鈥澛�
In the meantime, Sefin says he鈥檒l stay busy and keep doing what he鈥檚 doing. His main focus is succeeding in University and maintaining his scholarships while he works toward starting a queer-centric webcomic with his partner to provide more queer representation.聽
We鈥檙e so glad Sefin experienced this wonderful opportunity, and know he will carry the inspiration with him to make an impact on the lives of many.聽
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