Privilege, Purpose and the Courage to Face What Makes You Uncomfortable
Article written by Georgie Radford (Resident, SY 2025)
In early August I had the opportunity to attend the 14th University Scholars Leadership Symposium at the United Nations Conference Centre in Bangkok, Thailand alongside 320 young leaders from 29 countries. During the week we learnt from passionate, inspiring and thought-provoking speakers.
Going into the week, I came in with the mindset that I want to make change, I know how, I just don't have my why. Easy fix, I thought. Turns out it's not that simple.
Many of the Changemakers found their why from a deep personal injustice, which then sustained their motivation to make incredible changes in this world. For Nelly Cheboi, it was growing up in poverty that inspired her to found TechLit Africa, a school that teaches children in her community how to code. For Jin Dawood, her experience as a refugee motivated her to found Peace Therapist, which helps connect refugees to trained healthcare professionals.
Coming from a place of privilege, just like many others at Burgmann, I struggle to resonate with a deep injustice that would inspire and motivate me to make sustainable changes. This made me reckon with the harsh systemic reality that the people with the resources often need their resources the least.
At this point of the symposium, I was feeling rather deflated. That was until Lek Chailert spoke about her experience.
At 16, she was on a school excursion and heard elephants crying out. She asked her teacher to see what was happening, and saw elephants being beaten, stabbed and exploited in the logging industry. This haunted her all night, so she went back the next day to see what she could do. She is now the founder of the Save the Elephants Foundation in northern Thailand.
What inspired me so much about her story wasn't just that she was moved by what she saw, plenty of people are moved and do nothing. It was her courage to face the suffering. To go back the next day.
It made me reflect on the times I've done the opposite: avoiding eye contact with someone sleeping rough on the street or scrolling past a headline that made me feel uncomfortable. Small moments that are easy to justify individually in the moment, but collectively are kind of damning.
To anyone reading this, I call upon you to try and get uncomfortable. Don't look away from the suffering but go towards it, ask questions about what they need help with, and do what you can, even if it's small, even if it's not your whole life's purpose.
Have the courage to go back the next day.
