Hi everyone, it’s awesome to be here. So I want to start off with a quote. A wise man once said, I know exactly what to do. But in a much more real sense, I have no idea what to do. That wise man was Michael Scott from the office. He also said, I’m optimistic, but every day I get a little bit more desperate. There’s a deeper meaning to this, I promise. These two quotes are how I felt at the beginning of last year. I’m an international volition student with an interest in human rights, and I didn’t really know how to cope with the injustices occurring around me. I needed a way to make some change, to do something that let me use my resources and privileges to help those who needed it. And then I found the Corral Fellowship and learned about how powerful the field of public interest communications can be. So one of the biggest takeaways for my fellowship last summer was that to communicate effectively, we have to have empathy. And specifically that storytelling breeds empathy. So for my fellowship last summer, I interned at Families USA. Not Families Pictures USA, but Families USA, a leading nonprofit dedicated to affordable healthcare for all, and they masterfully utilized storytelling empathy. During my time there, I assisted with their storytelling projects and was in constant awe at how many story requests they received, from news outlets to the offices of senators, because the power of personal recollection is unbelievably impactful. But you all already know this. So why am I telling you something you already know? Because I didn’t. And it gave me the push to realize how much power my own story held, and the courage I needed to share it. So in 2014, my dad suffered a major heart attack. He was rushed to the ER and what should have been a simple procedure escalated to lung failure. The doctors had to quickly place him in a medically induced coma to keep him stabilized after all the shock his body was undergoing. And that coma ended up lasting almost a month. My father went into the hospital on April 24th and awoke May 20th. My brothers and I got to see him conscious for the first time on May 21st, his birthday. I don’t like talking about what my father’s been through, but by repressing our story, I was invalidating the overwhelming effect it had on our lives and how it allowed us to reshape our perspectives and come out the other side, viewing the world with a new lens. And that was a more empathetic one. So I want to take a moment to stress that the only reason I’m able to stay in here today is because my family had the fortune to be living in this country and be enrolled in the ACA. The only reason my dad was able to call me this morning and wish me luck is because our insurance lets us afford the 10 prescriptions he needs to take daily. If our government rips away this coverage, how many people are we going to let die? 2014 was my first encounter with the American healthcare system and it was soul crushing. We met families in the ICU who debated whether they could afford keeping their relatives there another day. We met doctors and nurses who worked paycheck to paycheck and cared more about their lunch break than their patients. This broken system is on us. And instead of a healthcare system, it’s become an industry with goods and services and big farm and profits when we’re talking about human lives here. Human lives at their most vulnerable and dependent. However, there’s always hope. We wouldn’t be here if we didn’t believe that. And I find it awe inspiring. The influence our stories hold. They have the power to change not only perspective, but policy. So the late representative Cummings, who was an amazing human being, oversaw a July 10 hearing last year regarding the AC repeal. And he said something extremely impactful after hearing testimonies from healthcare consumers, two of whom were sent by Families USA. He said, thank you. Thank you for taking your pain, turning it into a passion to do your purpose. Pain, passion, purpose. We all have a purpose in this world. The reason these stories are so effective and moving is because they transcend political parties and ideologies. You don’t need to have a relative in the ICU to feel the grief of their guardian who’s juggling over whether they can afford to keep them on life support another day. Storytelling evokes empathy, which fosters understanding and unity and creates a foundation for powerful communication to continue growing. I mean, we spend so much time and effort chasing Polish perfection that we fail to realize our greatest strengths lie in our moments of imperfection. So we need to take our pain, turn it into a passion to do our purpose. And our purpose is to make this world a better place. So I’m about to give you homework. We all need to continue to actively seek out and share stories, stories of pain, stories that evoke awe and passion, and always share them with a purpose in mind. Thank you so much. Thank you.