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OK, hello everybody.

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I think most of you know[br]Glades, my guide dog.

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She likes to be comfortable, [br]so I'll just take care of her first.

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OK, honey, down. Down.

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So, while I speak,[br]she might scratch herself,

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get up or even bark in her sleep,[br]so, just so you know.

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Ralph Waldo Emerson once said:

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"To be yourself in a world

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that's constantly trying [br]to make you something else

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is the greatest accomplishment."

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But I'll also say [br]that it's a great challenge.

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I'm, by nature, [br]not a challenge loving sort of a person.

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I'm quite content being one of the crowd,

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as long as I'm allowed freedom [br]for my thought and a way to live my life.

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But when I'm judged by my disability,

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I no longer have the luxury[br]of being a by-stander.

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I was always fascinated[br]by books and literature,

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and I wanted to become [br]a librarian or a linguist,

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so that I could always be close to them.

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But from my experience,[br]as a blind person,

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especially in the past few years,

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I came to realize [br]that the social stigma and ignorance

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towards people with disabilities[br]are too strong and too unjust

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for any person to enjoy life[br]as a simple librarian.

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"There are two primary choices in life,"[br]said Dr. Denis Waitley,

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"to accept conditions as they exist,

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or to accept the responsibility [br]of changing them."

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When I think about

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all the difficulties I face everyday [br]just trying to live my life,

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I truly believe [br]that for any person with a disability

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who wants to lead [br]a meaningful and fulfilling life

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there's none but one choice:

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to accept the responsibility [br]of changing them.

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I was diagnosed with retinitis pigmentosa[br]when I was four years old,

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and I lost my sight gradually[br]over the course of last 20 years.

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Doctors informed my parents

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that I would probably go blind [br]by the time when I'm 40, or even 50,

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that I'd go through college [br]and school without much trouble.

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But as it happened,[br]they weren't exactly right

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and by the time I was eight,[br]I couldn't read print books,

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and I couldn't see [br]the writings on the blackboard.

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And by the time I started college,

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I could no longer see myself[br]in the mirror.

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At every turn and step in my life,[br]I was confronted with one decision:

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whether to accept the excuses[br]made for me and live in easy self pity,

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or to brace myself [br]and walk into the unknown.

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I always chose the latter.

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I studied at the special school[br]for the blind in Mongolia

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and graduated in 2000.

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And at that time,

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that was as far as most blind people[br]went in terms of education.

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The accepted norm was

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either to go work in a special factory [br]or go stay at home.

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But I didn't want to follow the norm.

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I wanted to go to college,[br]I wanted to have a good job,

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and I wanted to make my parents[br]and my family proud of me.

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And this meant that I had [br]to work twice as strong,

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and be twice as hard working [br]as anybody else.

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Up until I was 14,[br]I was just like any other child.

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I didn't know [br]that I'd eventually go blind,

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I thought that I just had[br]a really bad eyesight.

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And the extent of the impact[br]of my condition on my life was

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the occasional name calling[br]caused by my thick glasses,

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or the fact that I read[br]differently than others.

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But when I reached 14, I learned[br]the true nature of my condition,

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and since then life became a race for me.

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I couldn't image living a life [br]without being able to see.

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I thought going blind would mean[br]the end of everything.

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And suddenly I realized

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why all those years ago, my father [br]took me to all those museums.

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I was eight at the time,

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and the museums were[br]either boring or scared me.

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But then I understood

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that he obviously wanted me [br]to have some memory

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of the cultural value and history,[br]about our country.

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I remember the sudden feeling of panic

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as I realized how much for me

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there was to see and learn[br]and how little time there was.

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I started looking for books to read,

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I thought books were my only salvation.

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I remember sitting in my school dorm room,

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and reading and reading without pause[br]as if my life depended on it.

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And within three weeks,[br]I had read all the braille books

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that were available [br]in Mongolian language at our school.

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I worked with the same zealousness[br]on my other subjects.

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I wanted to cram as much knowledge [br]as I could into my head

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so that I could be ready[br]when blindness came.

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I wanted to prepare myself.

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Unfortunately, there weren't[br]much resources at our school

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and soon I grew frustrated

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by the lack of, well, [br]pretty much everything.

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But I was determined, and the lack [br]of resources didn't deter me much;

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if anything, it just made me look[br]for other options.

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For example, when I realized I'd read [br]all the books at our school,

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I found out that there were [br]donated English braille books.

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So, what did I do?[br]I set out to learn English.

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Of course we didn't have[br]any English teachers,

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or English teaching materials, [br]or English books,

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which naturally didn't deter me.

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So after finishing my special school,

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I went to study at a regular high school[br]with normal sighted children.

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Because I wanted to go to college,

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and in order to go to college, we had [br]to have 10 years of higher education.

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Again, it was a challenge.

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Because nobody knew[br]how to teach a blind student,

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or how to handle a blind student.

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I remembered being told off[br]on the first day of school

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for disrupting the lesson[br]by punching holes in my notebook,

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which was the process [br]of taking notes in braille.

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But I overcame my fears [br]and my embarrassments.

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I refused to be [br]the prisoner of my disability.

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In 2006, I graduated [br]from the University of the Humanities.

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In 2007, I became [br]the first blind Mongolian

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to receive the Fulbright scholarship.

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(Applause)

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In 2009, I received my Master's degree [br]

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in Library and Information Science[br]from the Louisiana State University,

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and I returned home with [br]the very first guide dog of Mongolia.

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(Laughter)

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I've never had a single book[br]in audio format,

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or I've never had enough books in braille

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as I was going through[br]school and college in Mongolia.

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I've never had enough [br]braille paper to take notes

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that's why I often had [br]to memorize as much as I could

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and note down only the most important.

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And, as difficult as the lack [br]of materials and resources was,

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it was nothing compared to the [br]social ignorance that I had to deal with.

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It was the only thing[br]that halted me at my track.

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I was once asked by a journalist,

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what was the most difficult [br]thing in life for me,

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and I said: "It was[br]not being able to contribute."

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Because, I believe

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every human feeling and every human skill[br]finds meaning only when shared.

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And I think the biggest human tragedy[br]is not been allowed to share

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what one has to offer[br]with one's community.

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Imagine not being able to contribute

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when you're bursting [br]with knowledge and energy.

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Imagine being treated like a small child,[br]when you are a perfectly capable adult.

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Imagine people [br]not seeing you for who you are

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but only seeing your disability.

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Lack of understanding and unawareness

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is the foundation for any discrimination[br]and misunderstanding.

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And they are far more consequential[br]than lack of material resources.

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Because it's one thing when you go hungry[br]just because there's no food,

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but it's a very different thing[br]if you go hungry

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because people don't see it[br]as a problem that you don't have food.

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Material resources can change[br]everything alone

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because they are just a tool.

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Social understanding and acceptance are[br]the hands that put these tools in motion.

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From a personal point of view,[br]I come a long way.

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But from a perspective[br]of a capable young person,

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and a representative [br]of a socially disadvantaged group,

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I have a very long way to go.

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From my experience so far,[br]I've come to understand

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that if one wants to see [br]a meaningful social change,

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individual success is not all,[br]and it's not enough,

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but it can be the beginning.

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In the past 20 years, I've lost much,[br]but I've learned a lot.

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I've learned that going blind [br]is not the end of everything,

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I've learned that you might[br]not be able to control

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what life might throw at you.

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But you have the incredible power[br]of choosing how to react to it,

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and that makes [br]all the difference in the world.

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In the words of Helen Keller:

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"When one door closes,[br]we look at it so regretfully,

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we don't notice another one opening."

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So, don't just see life, experience it

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because life is too rich to be seen only.

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So, I hope that you, as open minded,

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you know, citizens of this diverse world,

0:13:23.863,0:13:27.713
who believe in social justice [br]and democracy,

0:13:27.713,0:13:33.385
will join me in extending [br]your hand to a disable person

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not out of pity but out [br]of understanding and acceptance.

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Thank you.

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(Applause)