0:00:13.826,0:00:17.287
What would you do when,[br]during Science Camp,

0:00:17.287,0:00:19.662
you're put together with three friends,

0:00:20.358,0:00:22.148
you are given a piece of thread

0:00:22.893,0:00:25.373
and they ask you to calculate [br]the width of a creek?

0:00:27.166,0:00:30.276
You discuss and try to see[br]what to do with the thread,

0:00:30.709,0:00:32.460
you cross the creek[br]a thousand times,

0:00:32.460,0:00:35.492
and try to see how many times[br]will the thread fit in it.

0:00:36.397,0:00:39.013
You will be tired and wet for sure.

0:00:41.013,0:00:44.793
Then, almost frozen,[br]exhausted and soaking wet,

0:00:45.138,0:00:47.774
I wondered if there was a way[br]to calculate that width

0:00:47.774,0:00:49.587
without getting more wet.

0:00:50.612,0:00:52.884
And then, I stood on the shore

0:00:53.812,0:00:54.923
and started to watch.

0:00:55.811,0:00:58.425
And I understood that three distances[br]were formed there.

0:00:58.729,0:01:00.674
From my feet to my eyes,

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from my eyes to the other shore

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and from that shore [br]to where I was standing.

0:01:07.146,0:01:08.730
And I remembered:

0:01:08.906,0:01:10.986
Soh Cah Toa![br](Laughter)

0:01:12.483,0:01:14.809
A basic trigonometry concept

0:01:14.809,0:01:17.521
that seemed unnecessary[br]until that moment,

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was giving me the answer[br]to a real problem.

0:01:21.582,0:01:24.264
And even though that situation[br]was very simple

0:01:24.264,0:01:26.735
the process I had to make at that time

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was very different to anything[br]I had done before.

0:01:30.452,0:01:31.791
Because it was mine.

0:01:32.240,0:01:33.252
It was real.

0:01:33.892,0:01:36.208
And something inside of me woke up,

0:01:36.208,0:01:37.695
something that was asleep

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just because I believed I couldn't.

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But that time I could[br]and I went crazy

0:01:42.762,0:01:45.812
about knowing more[br]about things and reality.

0:01:46.602,0:01:50.206
So I started searching for[br]similar experiences to this camp.

0:01:50.206,0:01:53.350
I went to the Balseiro Institute,[br]I convinced my friends

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to make a solar water distiller[br]for a CONICET contest.

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I got into scholarships, Olympics[br]and camps to continue learning.

0:02:00.574,0:02:02.157
So, through the year,

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I became "science girl" at school.

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But then this happened.

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I got a 7 in almost all subjects.

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I guess it was because[br]I was growing, right?

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I mean --

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it's normal to lose those interests[br]through time.

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Even more when you are a kid[br]that suddenly

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gets to a new world, [br]full of obligations

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and things that take time from[br]what you considered was essential.

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Look, during all our high school years

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in order to pass all the subjects,

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all Argentinean kids are asked[br]to get more than 6 or 7.

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I remember that when I was little[br]I had this concept of school

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as a place to learn exclusively

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and to be marveled with new stuff.

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I dreamed to be an astronaut,[br]to be a scientist,

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I remember I used to play[br]with my friends

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to be what we wanted to be[br]when we grew old.

0:03:02.772,0:03:05.078
My friend RocĂo would always[br]start to draw,

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saying that someday[br]she would be an animator.

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Today, RocĂo is almost 19

0:03:12.031,0:03:14.208
and started the [br]English Translator degree.

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What happened with her dream[br]during those 10 years of her life?

0:03:21.188,0:03:24.353
She must have changed her mind.

0:03:24.353,0:03:27.673
She realized she didn't like that.

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I asked her and her answer[br]was something like:

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"What happens is that to be [br]an animator you have to study math.

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And I've always failed it.

0:03:39.551,0:03:42.114
However, I always got [br]high grades at English.

0:03:42.802,0:03:44.002
It is easier for me."

0:03:45.020,0:03:47.166
And this happens because school

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is the only official reference kids have

0:03:49.750,0:03:52.210
about our intellectual[br]and academic performance.

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And that's the result[br]that a simple grade has

0:03:55.983,0:03:58.180
inside the educational system:

0:03:58.411,0:04:00.377
you end up not following your passion.

0:04:01.602,0:04:03.943
Because not only you get a 3 or a 4,

0:04:05.136,0:04:06.944
you are a 3 or a 4.

0:04:07.776,0:04:10.038
And you will continue to be that 3 or 4.

0:04:11.878,0:04:14.901
Grades end up separating us from 1 to 10.

0:04:15.221,0:04:18.317
You, the 10 boy, are the best of all.

0:04:18.964,0:04:22.848
You, the 1, be ready for what will come.

0:04:25.544,0:04:28.906
That contradiction of being [br]the science girl and a 7 at once,

0:04:28.906,0:04:30.948
made me realize that actually,

0:04:30.948,0:04:32.615
if you finish school

0:04:32.615,0:04:34.757
and have the courage to go to university,

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you'll probably fall into[br]what you were told before.

0:04:39.810,0:04:42.565
You make a balance[br]of the best grades you had

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or the easiest subjects for you,

0:04:46.361,0:04:49.127
and you look for a career[br]that is similar to that.

0:04:50.222,0:04:54.189
So a lot of times[br]what we learn at school is:

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"If I get high grades in this subject,

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I must like this, so this[br]is what I should do.

0:05:02.301,0:05:04.321
And during the rest[br]of high school,

0:05:05.569,0:05:08.209
you just focus on passing subjects.

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In the end, students learn [br]to be students.

0:05:15.346,0:05:18.703
And to answer only what we are asked.

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But, when do we actually learn?

0:05:28.301,0:05:31.790
It took me a lot of effort to understand [br]that I was more than my grade.

0:05:31.790,0:05:33.774
That I am more than those sevens.

0:05:34.651,0:05:36.856
And when I did,[br]my grades didn't change much.

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What did change was[br]that I started learning.

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But how long can you be a rebel[br]and not care about grades?

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I mean, you can avoid them in December, [br]March, or even the next year,

0:05:49.888,0:05:53.570
but if your revolution fails[br]you have to repeat the year.

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We can't do this alone.

0:05:58.241,0:05:59.920
We need help.

0:06:00.705,0:06:03.359
The educational system needs a change.

0:06:03.975,0:06:06.840
And I am sure that[br]the passion and interest

0:06:06.840,0:06:09.553
that my friend has for drawing,

0:06:10.070,0:06:13.672
is worth more than a 3 or a 4.

0:06:15.070,0:06:17.752
School must be the place[br]that teach us to think.

0:06:18.769,0:06:20.916
To search for what we love.

0:06:22.220,0:06:24.570
To be how we want to be

0:06:24.570,0:06:26.809
and not how the numbers tell us we are.

0:06:27.682,0:06:30.168
Today, my report will say I'm a 7.

0:06:30.473,0:06:33.277
My partners, teachers[br]and my whole school

0:06:33.277,0:06:37.428
will still have the contradiction[br]of "science girl" full of sevens.

0:06:38.884,0:06:41.734
But for myself, I am more than a number.

0:06:43.439,0:06:45.555
Now, grades,

0:06:45.555,0:06:48.530
are they really necessary?

0:06:49.277,0:06:50.186
I don't know.

0:06:51.210,0:06:53.732
But to show us, during all[br]our learning process,

0:06:54.365,0:06:58.482
that we are and can much more[br]than those numbers

0:06:59.786,0:07:03.684
and I'm convinced that[br]it is absolutely essential.

0:07:04.715,0:07:05.988
Thank you.

0:07:05.988,0:07:07.193
(Applause)