One day, I was just scrolling down Facebook as any normal person would do. But you ever have that moment where you suddenly stop and pause and blink your eyes many times to make sure what you're seeing is real? That's a SparkNotes version of how I was last week. I was staring blankly at the screen and my mouth was hanging open.
What I saw was a post from one of my friends from high school — not just any average post that I would usually scroll past, it was a post where he said: "Incredibly honored to have worked with Shawn Mendes, Khalid and Apple Music on this amazing project." I sat there gawking at the screen to make sure I read that right.
My high school classmate was in a music video production... with Shawn Mendes and Khalid! Two very influential people in the music industry. I was in so much shock that I remember telling all my friends about it — they were equally shocked. I've always seen amazing young people being represented (as they should) in the media but to actually know someone was an entirely crazy feeling.
A few days later, I listened to the actual music video and was completely obsessed with it. Apart from my friend being in it, I was really happy to see amazing youth defy stereotypes, defy odds, and show their amazing skills throughout the music video.
Throughout the video, you can see people from different backgrounds with such a high variety of skills from debate to playing drums, from building clocks to filmmakers and activists. It's honestly inspiring seeing how people have overcome their own struggles and obstacles to get to a point where to us, it's awe-inspiring, but to them, it's a product of their hard work.
I definitely recommend you check it out because honestly, I think it's not only empowering to the youth of our country but also a message to everyone that we are capable of so much more than what society expects of us.