Commitment to Human Rights

Hello! My name is Emily Mann. I am a second-generation immigrant with roots in Europe and the Philippines. I am currently in 12th grade at the Maples MET School. My first stroke with human rights and global issues came to me in 9th grade, when I started at Maples Collegiate. This was a big year for me, I had just transferred out of my K-8 private school into a huge public high school with 1600 students, few of whom I even knew, and no idea how I would accustom to the new environment, but what I did know was that I wanted to join Debate Club. In my eyes, this was the outlet where I would be able to break out of the box I had been secluded in during my elementary years.

In moving schools, I wanted to explore the cultural diversity that a big school could offer and the opportunity to connect with my Filipino heritage — something I was patronized at my previous school, by family, or friends for not being “Filipino enough” due to my being mixed-race. I realized that at Maples, I didn’t have to conform to other people’s standards. I could explore my identity and interests to the fullest. It was at this time that I became passionate about providing an equitable world for all, fueled by making the world better for those who were to come after me.

In my first year at the Debate Club, I was exposed to all sorts of global issues and matters that I took an interest in. I wanted to explore them deeper and take them to a different level through the art of speech. I ended up taking a Summer Debate Intensive in my school division, which sparked my curiosity about human rights and environmental justice. As I transferred into the Maples MET program for 10th grade, I took the opportunity to explore some of these big themes with smaller focuses like government overreach and censorship, environmental impacts of cryptocurrency, and shared experiences of mixed diaspora in Canada. This is something I would not have been able to do if I had stayed in a traditional high school.

From 10th grade to now, I have gotten myself involved with various activities such as being on and leading my school’s Ethics Bowl teams, Youth Parliament of Manitoba, my school division’s Climate Action Planning Committee, and nuclear peace activism. All these opportunities have allowed me to steward my vision of a brighter future, which I hope to continue at MARL. I want to advocate for global citizenship and move our world away from individualistic ways of thinking. When we can achieve that, I believe we will be closer to a world where everyone is free to be themselves. Over the years, MARL has played a key role in organizing spaces where we can engage in meaningful discussions and work, so for me, it was natural that it would be the best place for me to be part of the change