Speaker: ELIZABETH LI, Pennsylvania
ELIZABETH LI: There was a history teacher at my high school named Peter McVeigh, but I knew him as the advisor for the Ethics Club, which was a group of kids who sat around a table at lunch and talked about things like is the death penalty ethical. In those spaces. I was always the odd person out. My viewpoint differed from everybody and I stood out, in every space I walked in at school. He was the first person to encourage me to keep standing out, to keep speaking up, even when I was the softest voice and the loneliest voice in the room. He pushed me to be a voice for others. He was the one who encouraged me to get into politics. And I'll always remember the role that he played in giving me my voice. So, thank you Mr McVeigh. So, thank you Mr McVeigh. I appreciate you greatly.
What would you say to that teacher right now?
ELIZABETH LI: Unfortunately, Mr. McVey is no longer with us. But, I did tell him often how much he meant to me. Even after I graduated high school after I graduated college he called me every year on my birthday just to check up on me. Make sure I was doing all right. And I got to tell him every year that I, that I was doing big things that I was talking, talking up, speaking out and, giving a platform for others.
