Have you ever wanted to change your life? Hi! This is Natalie Chien, and I’m about to share the story of how I changed from a laid-back teen to a girl who could make things that mattered. 

The Girl Who Was a Ribbon

Until 6th grade, I made some pretty graveyard mistakes as I

Didn’t think learning was important

When you’re a kid, there are no real world consequences to

Earning bad grades. They’re just letters on a page.

School was the place I was warehoused for the day where I 

Took naps

Doodled cherry blossoms

And chatted with my friends about the next hang-out

My teacher’s lectures were as dry as chalk and I

Didn’t see the point of learning the names of planets I would

Never visit anyway 

I would also allow TikTok to eat my time

To this day I 

Can’t remember what I was looking at

My other hobby was 

Playing Bed Wars with buddies

In which our sole goal was to 

Break other people’s digital beds

So now the question is: how could a girl whose sole goal was

Being social, drawing flowers, and playing Bed Wars

Become a girl who learned to make something that mattered?

Ah. My teacher found out that more than fun I wanted 

R-E-S-P-E-C-T (just a little bit)

I mean, who doesn’t?

And in my 6th grade mind, the women I saw respected were

Actresses gracing the red carpet

Bingo. My teacher showed me a TED Talk about 

a secret fish farm in Spain

Where a family harnessed nature to produce the most delicious fish

Michelin star Chef Dan Barber had ever tasted

I learned to write poetry, dance, act, and sing

And because it was for a cause that meant something to me

I had the courage to do it, which is how as

The sky darkens as it cries with cold wind 

I keep dancing because my heart is sparked with fireworks. 

I am making a music video to my song, “Viva La Veta” 

an ode to a magical fish farm in Spain that produces 

delicious fish by harnessing Nature. 

As I spin by a stream of liquid glass, 

a house of sadness hits my heart as I remember 

we’ve polluted the Earth so much it’s now 

raining plastic from the clouds. 

Perhaps because art is a ribbon around a bomb of truth, 

I can be the ribbon who lures them to listen.

This is Natalie Chien and thank you for listening! 

I hope my story inspires you to consider what you want to change. After all, if I can, anything is possible.