>>Adam Braun: With this renewed sense of purpose, I went out into the developing world. We got
shipwrecked, and then we continued to travel. I had a habit of asking one kid per country
what they wanted most in the world, expecting to hear a Playstation, a flat screen TV, all
the things that we take for granted. I asked a young girl in Hawaii where we were shipwrecked
-- again, a terrible place to get shipwrecked, Hawaii. I said, "What do you want most in
the world?" This young beautiful young girl said, "To dance."
Then I asked a girl in China. I said, "What do you want most in the world?" She said,
"A book." And then I got to Hong Kong, and I heard my
favorite answer, which was "magic," just magic. By the time I got to India, the reason I went
on this trip, the kind of karmic compulsion to go in the first place, I asked this boy
begging on the streets where the poverty is overwhelming and you can't give money because
it perpetuates this cycle of begging. And, you know, candy works really well. But, as
I mentioned, my mother is an orthodontist and my father is a dentist. They'd be very
upset with me. I said, "What do you want most in the world" to this young boy. And he looked
at me. And he said, "A pencil." That was it. Just a pencil. I had one, and I gave him my
pencil. And he lit up completely. And he held it in the air. And there was an instant moment
of transformation in me. He went -- this act, two things happened. I realized the incredible
power of education in the hands of locals, not just us as westerners kind of imparting
our ideals onto others, but the pencil as a tool for empowerment. And, secondly, even
as a young person, I could actually help somebody in a meaningful way. It wasn't just about,
you know, the select few. The creation of good is a space that should be accessible
to all.