So that’s it! Speaking in front of 100 people.
It’s impressive.
But our life is either a daring adventure or nothing at all.

If I dare today, if I dare to speak to you in a language that is not my own, it’s because I hope this message will go beyond these walls and build bridges.

I hope it will inspire in you the desire to pass it on… and that it can make a difference!

But to change things, we must act together.

And we cannot be together if we are not individually fulfilled!

My name is Natael, and one day, someone told me I was unique.
It’s the most beautiful compliment I’ve ever received.

That’s when I understood that you don’t need to be extraordinary to be unique.

Being unique is being different from others. It’s being yourself.

And it’s quite difficult to be the ordinary version of yourself in this society. You see what I mean?

Aren’t you pushed every day to be more than what you are?

And it starts very young. Do you remember, when we’re children, we’re asked what we want to do when we grow up, what adult we want to become?

But at that moment, they’re asking the wrong question!

Asking a child what they want to “be” when they grow up… I’ve always found that inappropriate.
It’s uncomfortable for a child who is already trying to understand who they are today.

What really matters is who we are now, in every moment that shapes our life.

Even if we are all unique, we surely have something in common!

And let me ask you this question:

What do we all have in common, as human beings?

One thing is certain:

You all have a different answer.

And that proves that we share much more than we think.

We all have emotions! Fears, desires, dreams.

And we must dive into ourselves to discover who we truly are.

As Zarathustra said of the mountains:

Where do the highest mountains come from? From the depths of the oceans!

These mountains, these emotions that pass through us, animate us, push us to act…

We must discover them, sooner or later. We must believe in them!

And it’s never too late. What are yours?

It’s never too late to act.

One of my high school teachers, when I was 15, told us one day:

“You are old when you have more regrets than projects.”

I have never forgotten these words.

Because that’s when I understood that you can stay young forever.

And at that moment, I felt fully capable of acting!

And I decided that my projects would always outweigh my regrets.

At that moment, I wrote these words:

The distance between countries is only limited by our need for escape!
The difference between peoples is defined by our willingness to learn from others!
The greatness of our projects is simply a matter of the greatness of our ambition!
All this to say that we are the only ones who can set the limits, differences, and barriers to our projects!

So, I wanted to know myself better.
I tried to listen to my emotions, my dreams, my needs.

How can we truly open up to others with sincerity if we don’t know ourselves?

I quickly felt the need to travel, to learn from others, to answer all these questions fueled by a limitless curiosity, as vast as this world!

One of the most beautiful adventures of my student life was my Erasmus exchange in Augsburg, Germany.

I knew this experience would be unique, formative.

I knew I would probably meet young people from all over the world, and that I would have to connect with their energy.

So I decided to go there… by bicycle!

For nine days, I was alone on my bicycle, crossing the Alps.

And believe me, I had time to reflect on myself!

Once I arrived, I was ready to share unique experiences.

And I think I quickly understood… I knew what kind of person I wanted to be every day for the rest of my life.

I want to be an advocate for a better world, and connect individuals so they feel capable of acting together.

But how does one become that person?
How does one become an agent of change?

How many of you want to change the world? Don’t let me believe I’m the only one!

For me, there are four essential steps:

1. Dare, even at the risk of failure.

We are capable of incredible things when we dare.
It’s this capacity for action that we must unleash in our societies!

There will always be people to discourage you, to tell you that you won’t succeed.

Take the leap into the unknown.

Have confidence in yourself.

Failure is a lesson.

When I decided to go cycling in Germany, I didn’t have the best equipment, nor the most muscular legs…

But I had the essential: the audacity to go for it!

2. Open up to the world to find inspiration and dreams.

Inspiration is all around us, from childhood and through the encounters that shape our existence.
We must open ourselves, listen, connect with others.

During my Erasmus, on the train with my Italian friends, we were reimagining the world as unique individuals… talking about food, of course!

I explained to my Italian friends that I made my carbonara sauce with crème fraîche…
They nearly had a heart attack! 

Then I started to doubt all my international recipes: my guacamole, my sushi, my couscous…

A real culinary drama! But fortunately, we were in Erasmus, the largest international community in the world.
The solution was simple: invite people to share a dinner and their culinary expertise!

That’s how I launched the Facebook group Cooking Club Augsburg Erasmus, and I invited my friends from all over the world to cook in my residence and teach us their grandmothers’ recipes.

It was magical. Food creates so many bridges!

3. Fight for your ideas.

Believing in something without living it is dishonest.

We should all promise to be honest with our ideas!

Upon returning from Erasmus, I had grown.
I had learned about myself and others.

I was convinced that diversity makes our world better.
That this unique little thing in each of us is a wealth.

And I couldn’t let those around me think otherwise.

So I created the association Foreigners Association Chambéry to create links between foreigners and locals in my city.

What I love most about welcoming a foreigner to my city,
is seeing them marvel at things that seem ordinary to me…

It’s one of the greatest lessons I’ve learned from this experience.

We forget how extraordinary things are… when we see them every day.

4. Surround yourself and share.

When you have dared and learned from your failures,
when you have found inspiration,
and you start fighting for your ideas…

That’s when you start to have an impact.

And that’s when you are most able to share.

I like to use the image of a fruit tree to explain the connection that unites us all, and that allows us to change the world.

When we thrive, we are like a tree full of fruit.
We have had sun, water, a whole process that allows us to give.

These fruits nourish the ecosystem around us… But if they are not picked, they fall and rot.

Sometimes, a tree struggles to give. In those moments, it needs sun, water, support, to be able to bloom again.

If you can’t give, don’t be afraid to pick from around you.
And if you can, then share.

Because one day, when your tree is bare, others around you will be there to help you.

You can all have or support meaningful projects in your daily life!

Being an agent of change is possible!

Surround yourself with suns, rivers, and fruit trees!

Become, in turn, trees capable of nourishing others so that new fruits grow around you!

Wherever you go, whenever you can…
Dream and act for a better world.

And let’s dare together to become agents of change!