Embrace your YOUNESS

My son graduated from university on in mid December 2023. It was a fancy ceremony in the old Exhibition Building in Carlton. Lots of interesting outfits from the higher ups and gowns and silly hats (my son's words!) on the graduates.
 
As part of the ceremony, Dr Anthea Skinner, musicologist - a fancy way of saying that she's a music researcher, who's research is focussed on adapting instruments for people with disabilities - gave the keynote speech. Dr Skinner spoke about the advice her mother gave her as a young woman with a disability who was unsure of how she would navigate a world that she didn't “fit” into: 
 
“No one who was just like everybody else ever did anything truly amazing. No one who was just like everybody else ever changed the world.”
 
I share Dr Skinner's words (and those  of her mother) as a reminder to you too, that what makes you unique is how you will make your mark. Embrace your 'weirdness', your 'kookiness', all the things that make you you. 
 
Your way of looking at things, your creativity, your opinion matters. I encourage you to celebrate your Youness and all that it entails.
 
Because no one who was just like everybody else ever did anything truly amazing.