By Jocelyn Jo-Hsuan Chung What will the world be if we ever let kids become our presidents? There will probably be more bubble guns and fewer firearms; more corndogs and Pringles; more laughing, high-fives, and cool things like birthday balloons and dinosaur-shaped nuggets, and fewer terrorist attacks and crazy explosions. It seems like a really nice place to live, doesn’t it? As a matter of fact, there actually is a real Kid President who has been dedicating himself to this vision to “make people dance.” “GIVE THE WORLD A REASON TO DANCE” Wearing a black suit and a red tie, Robby Novak, a nine-year-old self-proclaimed Kid President of the United States, is looking all presidential in his most sensational video, “A Pep Talk.” This video has won him almost thirty million views on Youtube, establishing Kid President as one of the most outspoken inspirers on the internet. By making these funny and uplifting videos, this pint-sized chief executive has gained as much influence as the big names, only he is much cuter. Rolling his big bright eyes, laughing with his signature giggling and two cute dimples on his cheeks, shrugging and singing, dancing and yelling, the funny and quick-witted Kid President is here to give people inspiration. “The world needs to stop being boring! YEAH, YOU!” "Boring is easy. Everybody can be boring, but you’re gooder [sic] than that.”
Kid President has been on his campaign to make the world less boring since 2012. It all began with a simple idea between Novak and his best friend, who is also his bother-in-law: “What if the President really were a kid?” This wild fantasy turned into Kid President’s first inaugural film, a short promotional film produced for a university benefit dinner. Later, the series continued as a fun way to play together and spread some laughter in the family. Gradually, their videos gained more and more attention, and finally became viral on Youtube. This modest fantasy took them on a mission to “make the world more awesome.” “I’M NOT IN A PARTY. I AM A PARTY! EVERYWHERE I GO IS A PARTY!” In October 2012, Kid President attracted the notice of SoulPancake, an online channel that covers a variety of big topics from spirituality, philosophy, and art in a creative way. The co-founder of SoulPancake, Rainn Wilson of the TV series “The Office,” invited Kid President to join him in collaboration. Since then, Kid President has been releasing new videos on this channel every week. Usually filmed at his desk, with two small national flags placed on each side of his hands and a cardboard background with a hand drawn presidential seal, Kid President likes to conduct interviews with his famous friends over a string and a tin can telephone. Kid President has interviewed several celebrities, including singer Beyoncé (whom he got a kiss from and has been bragging about ever since), Josh Groban, and even UN Secretary-General Ban Ki-Moon for the promotion of World Humanitarian Day. But none has been more memorable than when the two Presidents actually met! In April, President Obama invited Robby to the White House, showing him around the Oval Office. Seeing the two “Presidents” walking side by side and hugging each other was something truly “historical,” something that knocks down the wall between generations, and something that assures us that “the world changes faster if children and grown-ups work together.” “YOU CAN CRY ABOUT IT, OR YOU CAN DANCE ABOUT IT” However, Kid President is not just a funny kid who talks big. He says it because he lives it. In an interview on CNN in February, when the camera zoomed in on him he quickly raised a paper saying “We love you, Gabbi,” a message to Robby’s friend, a brave cancer-fighting girl Gabbi, to whom he had dedicated his first video, “A Pep Talk.” Yet as Robby raised both hands to give a big shout of encouragement to his friend, there was something strange about his right hand. It was wrapped in a cast with orange bandages. This injury is not unusual. It was, in fact, the seventy-first injury that Robby has had during his short life. He has a brittle bone disease known as “osteogenesis imperfecta (OI).” Simply put, his bones break easily. But nothing can stop him from being a kid. He still runs. He still jumps. He still bumps into things as he wishes, even though he sometimes gets broken bones. And above all, Kid President is not here to cry or whine or draw sympathy. He’s here to dance! “CREATE SOMETHING THAT WILL MAKE THE WORLD MORE AWESOME” When asked about his first act if he was elected, Kid President replied that he would definitely “throw a big dance party.” Well, even though we may never know what the world would be if our Presidents were actually kids, yet thanks to Kid President, thanks to his hilarious laughs and uplifting pep talks, and thanks to him treating us like it’s our birthdays too, we now have a reason to dance! Thank you, Kid President! Top Quotes from Kid President: l “Be more awesome!” l “Don’t stop believing, unless your dream is stupid… then get a better dream and keep going, keep going, keep going…” l “If there are two paths, I want to be on the one that leads to awesome” l “This is life people… you got air coming through your nose… you got a heart beat… it’s time to do something” l “If life is a game, aren’t we all on the same team?” l What if Michael Jordan had quit… what if he quit when he didn’t make the team? He would have never made Space Jam, and I love Space Jam. What will be your Space Jam? What will you create when you make the world awesome? a
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May 2024
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