On March 26, 2014, a post appeared on the Youth Are Awesome homepage titled ‘Why do we need writers?’. Being a writer myself, I was naturally drawn to the article. After being blown away by an insight I had not yet seen before, I began to await eagerly for the weekly blog posts from the author known as Richard Lee-Thai. (‘Who are you?‘ was the second post to come from the aspiring blogger, and continues to be one of my personal favourites.) During his first Youth Are Awesome meeting, Richard’s maturity and intelligent thoughts radiated from him and brightened up the room. By that time, his talent as a writer was also obvious.
A few months later, Richard showed up to the recruitment meeting for the ConocoPhillips Youth of Distinction Awards (YODA) committee. I had no doubt in my mind that he would be an amazing addition to that team, and nobody was disappointed by his work. On YODA, Richard’s skill as a leader showed through. Fast forward a couple more months and I am sitting at a table deciding who gets to take over as the new Editors when I, and my fellow graduating Editors, departed. Once again, I was delighted to see that Richard was stepping up to the plate and taking on the responsibility of guiding others. Even though I have known Richard for the past year, the chat I had with him inside a busy Starbucks last week was (un-surprisingly) filled with observations I did not know he had. Here’s an inside look into Richard’s mind!
The Early Moments
Before his debut on Youth Are Awesome, Richard had his own blog on WordPress (that he is hesitant to share with us due to some rather embarrassing quality). It seems that writing has always been in Richard’s blood. When asked how he felt about blogging, Richard said, “I like writing because you can go back and edit your thoughts to make sure they express what you want. When you’re talking in real life, you only have one chance to make your ideas come through. Like, I’ll probably see this post with the interview and wish that I would’ve said something else. I don’t feel that a lot of editing with your writing takes away any authenticity because, at the end of the day, it’s still you and your own words.”
“I like seeing what people my age have to say about issues around the world, because we can have deep and insightful thoughts, too.”
We at Youth Are Awesome count ourselves lucky every day because we have Richard on our team. But he loves the platform, too. “Writing, to me, is a really solitary activity because it’s just you and your screen and your keyboard. I really enjoy being in a group of bloggers and being able to hear their ideas. I like seeing what people my age have to say about issues around the world, because we can have deep and insightful thoughts, too. There’s not anything out there like Youth Are Awesome right now. Everything we read is from the perspective of adults, and there aren’t a lot of youth talking. It’s really important to promote youth voices because a lot of young people don’t read the adult-driven news, so they can go to Youth Are Awesome and see what other youth have to say.”
The shining young man you see today wasn’t always so confident, though. “Before I started blogging, I would write a lot but I would only share the posts with people who were pretty close to me because they were my deep and personal thoughts, and it’s hard to share that. Experience and getting positive feedback has allowed me to be more open about it. I can also help people now, and see how much of a difference I’m making with each person who reads my blog posts.”
A Word To Fellow Writers
With the number of social justice and self-help articles that Richard has written, you’d think that he was some sort of walking idea machine. Although, like everyone else, he also gets stuck in some ruts.
“If I don’t have any ideas, I’ll just ask my friends, ‘What do you think I should write about?’ Like one day, I asked my friend what I should write about and he said racism and I thought, ‘Oh, that’s a good idea. I’ll start writing about that.’ [This lead to, ‘Is a world without racism possible?‘.] But other times, I feel like you can just go outside and try to experience things in order to get inspiration.”
It’s not always easy to produce engaging content. Sometimes, even the best of minds feel limited. In our day and age, it’s necessary to put ourselves out there. But the fear of ridicule is always sitting at the back of our minds. As Richard says, “I did used to feel some pressure at the beginning, but now I kind of just do what I want and not care too much what other people think. For example, as a male, there’s this stereotype that we have to be manly and unemotional. But for me, I feel that I’m a pretty emotional and expressive person. I’m able to talk to people about my feelings and serious issues. For some time, I felt quite isolated because a lot of other guys weren’t like that. But I’ve come to recognize that it’s a strength I have and it’s a unique part of me.”
“If you always feel self-conscious about what you’re saying then you’ll always be held back.”
To aspiring writers, Richard wants to say, “The best advice I have is to not be afraid to write. Even if you’re not happy with the product at the end, you have to do it in order to improve. If you always feel self-conscious about what you’re saying then you’ll always be held back. The only way to get better is through practice and finding out what you can work on.” Breaking down those personal barriers of insecurity is the only way to truly shine through your writing. “Live life the way you want. Everyone should be able to make their own choices and pursue what they’re passionate about—people shouldn’t feel oppressed by what society expects of them.”
Looking Into The Future
We reached a point in our interview where I asked Richard what his plans were for his future on Youth Are Awesome. To this, he replied, “That’s a good question!” As his sophisticated and calm demeanor would suggest, Richard is the type of guy who goes with the flow. There isn’t currently a grand vision for the future, but he knows that he will find his purpose when the time comes.
“Writing is a means to express yourself and to share your story. Every person has a story to tell and can bring a unique perspective to the table, even if they don’t write. It’s my goal as an Editor to aid people in sharing their thoughts.”
Despite the uncertainty of the future, Richard is sure of one thing: the voice of today’s youth shall live on. He is not the type to become easily discouraged by what some others may think. I know that myself, and many other bloggers, have often been afraid of not being taken seriously as a youth blogger. Although, Richard sees it differently.
“I don’t feel like I’m under qualified to write about Life or any other topics, because I’m just one person. It’s true that I haven’t experienced as much of life as other people have, but everybody’s voice is important. I don’t think that my perspective is any better or any less important than anybody else who can contribute to a topic. Because of a person’s experiences, they will have more expertise on a certain subject than I do and it’s good to hear every side. Even if a person might not know everything about a certain topic, once they start writing they become more informed about it. When somebody else disagrees because they have other information, the two people can start a discussion and both sides will end up learning something they didn’t know.”
Getting To The Essence Of Richard
If you’ve read any of my interviews with other youth, you’ll know that I like to throw in a curve ball question at the end of my meetings just to spice things up a bit. To Richard, I asked: If you found out today that you only had one year left to live, would you change the way you currently live your life? Why or why not? His answer was just as heart warming and well-thought out as I figured it would be.
“Yes, probably. I mean, this time next year it would be the summer after I graduate and before I go to university. If I found out I was dying, then there’d be no use in going to school. But that’s not the point.” (Showing us he’s witty and wise, all in one.) “I would value the life that I have a lot more and try to make the most of my life by doing meaningful things like volunteering and talking to friends. One of my favourite books is Tuesdays with Morrie, and it taught me was that we shouldn’t be afraid of death and that we should make the most of our lives. It’s a great book, and I think everyone should read it. I don’t want people to be sad when I die, because that’s a part of life. My passing away doesn’t mean that I’m gone because I’ll still live on in their memories, as cliche as that sounds.”
And That’s A Wrap
Taking a page from Richard’s book, I hope that I will also live on in all of your memories. The past two years on Youth Are Awesome have been some of the best for me. I’ve had so many amazing opportunities that would not have been possible at all without this blog. I will miss this platform and all of the bloggers fiercely, but I wish everyone the best. There is still so much more growth left for this blog, and I can’t wait to see the wonderful direction we head in.
But this isn’t goodbye. Rather, it’s a “see you later.”
Until we meet again…
