SPEAKING FROM THE HEART! My First Experience On An Expert Panel
I got the chance to sit shoulder to shoulder with some experts in the field of Gender Equality and Education. I was selected to be a panelist at the United Nations Girls’ Education Initiative’s (UNGEI) & the United Nations Children’s Fund (UNICEF) East Asia and Pacific Regional Forum for Gender Equality in Education, which was held on 28 Aug, 2014 in Bangkok, Thailand. I was invited as a representative of Wedu to share one of my stories about the life experience of being a victim of the bad education system in Myanmar, and what I did to escape from being a victim. With the help of Wedu, it was an honor to participate in the big international forum on Gender Equality in Education, which brought together Regional and Global experts and high-level education stakeholders, including representatives form governments, Civil Society Organizations, and academia to discuss key gender in education issues in the East Asia Pacific region and shared good practices to inform advocacy for policy change.
This was my first experience of being a panelist ever. I went there to attend as a panelist without knowing exactly what it would look like. Since I got a confirmation via e-mail to be part of the panel discussion, Katie, the Operations and Outreach Coordinator at Wedu, explained how the session would proceed and what each panelist should be prepared to do. I planned to share my experience of being a victim of gender inequality in education in Myanmar and my story about how I missed the medical student life in Myanmar because girls need higher points in the matriculation exam than boys to get admission to medical college in Myanmar, which was my dream and my hopes since I was very young and also it was my mom’s big expectation of me.
Wedu practiced with me some sample questions. They practiced by asking questions like “How to try to escape from being a victim? Which alternatives did you choose to achieve your goal? What kind of challenges you will have to face in the future as a woman? What kind of messages do you want to give to future generations?” These questions helped make my speech to give at the forum, even though I hadn’t communicated with the moderator or other panelists before the event.
On the same day, just before the start of the panel discussion, one of the moderators helped me very quickly to make sure I got connected to other fellow panelists. All other panelists were well prepared and busy with the papers of their work outcomes. This was really frustrating, being the one among them because I had nothing to present for my work, research or to report to the audience. I was so nervous and excited. However, I had no choice, I couldn’t run away from that room, but I wished. So I tried to keep calm by knowing that I was going to tell them one of my life experiences, it is a reality, not made-up and also not statistics.
I started my story with “I am speaking from my heart…” because I had nothing to read and show. I stammered and was totally unorganized at the start but after a few minutes, I became normal since I noticed that I caught the attention of the audience. I made a conclusion by giving the message to my fellow sisters that when bad things happen to you because of bad education systems and policies, which discriminate women, you need to empower yourself, you need to take action and respond differently. At the end, I heard a huge clap from the audience when I mentioned my alternative that I chose to achieve my goal to be a doctor by doing PhD to get at least a “Title”.
“I was impressed by people’s dedication and efforts. I personally learned about gender inequality in education issues that I hadn’t known about before and I could establish the new contacts which critical to grow my scope and enhancing my career.”
My first experience as a panelist at the UNGEI and UNICEF’s East Asia Pacific Regional Forum on Gender Equality in Education. To my left is Nitya Roa (Professor, University of East Anglia), Alex Munive (Program Manager, Plan International), and Randi Gramshaug (Senior Adviser NORAD). To my right is Fiona Leach (Emeritus Professor, University of Sussex). It was really great to be among them. Thanks to Wedu, you gave me the opportunity to be on stage!
