If you struggle to feel good enough sometimes, then you need to listen to Ms. Rachel’s recent commencement speech at NYU. Her words on “impostor syndrome” will change your life! In case you didn’t already know, Ms. Rachel is just about one of the most popular children’s educators out there. She creates fun and entertaining YouTube videos to help toddlers grow with early learning techniques. This month, she accepted the 2024 Dorothy Height Distinguished Alumni Award from NYU, where she received her master’s.
Although many parents couldn’t imagine a world without Ms. Rachel’s videos for kids, there was a time when this educator would never have have thought she could accomplish something like this.
“I used to wait for someone powerful to give me permission to use their power,” Ms. Rachel admitted in her speech. “Other people were the gatekeepers, the change makers. But the truth is, you don’t need to wait for anyone else. Find your role to play, and show up. You are the one.”
Things began to change when Ms. Rachel had her son. She knew that he needed help with his speech delay, and she was hoping to find some kind of educational content online. Unfortunately, none of the available resources were like what she had in mind.
“I kept thinking, ‘Someone should do a show with all the great speech development strategies and early intervention techniques we were learning,'” she recalled.
That’s when she realized that she might just have to create this content herself! Ms. Rachel wasn’t expecting her show to take off, though. All she wanted was for “a real company” with more resources to see it, recognize that it was a good idea, and turn it into a higher quality production. Maybe she’d even get to help!
What actually happened, though, was so much better. Ms. Rachel’s show became famous in its own right, and now she’s helping so many kids and parents with her videos!
“Six billion views later, we’re the company we were waiting for to make the show,” she said, beaming.
At the end of her speech, Ms. Rachel shared the moral of her inspiring story. Don’t let the fear that you’re not good enough hold you back from pursuing your dreams. You don’t have to wait for someone else’s approval in order to do something meaningful!
“It’s the people who keep showing up and taking action that make a difference,” she said.
We probably all needed to hear that!
You can find the source of this story’s featured image here.
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