• Blog
  • Archives
  • Bio
  • Awards
  • Speaking
  • Book
  • Contact

I've done what I've done

Published: Saturday, 26 January 2013

When I became Young Australian of the Year a year ago, I wanted to give as many speeches as I physically could, I wanted to contribute to the national curriculum, and I wanted to contribute to the national conversation in Australia by writing op-ed and opinion pieces.

With Robogals, I wanted all our programs from the previous year to run again and to be even more successful, I wanted Robogals to be financially sustainable and I wanted to hand over my role as the CEO onto a successor.

With university, I wanted to pass all my subjects.

Before being Young Australian of the Year, I'd done high school public speaking, high school public debating, and given only a few public speeches before.  I'd never contributed to the national curriculum before.  And I'd never written anything to be published in a major newspaper before.  In 2012, over 8 months I gave 134 speeches to 30,000 people, including 10,000 schoolgirls.  I contributed to the national curriculum.  And I submitted an op-ed for a major Australian newspaper.

With Robogals, all our programs ran again, we became financially sustainable and I handed on the role of CEO to a successor.

And I passed all my subjects at university.

A week before handing over the title of "Current Young Australian of the Year", was a week of pure contentment.

I think when you do things to the best of your ability, regardless of the result that you achieve, then you can look back on what you've done and be proud of yourself.

At the end of every project, no matter what the outcome, I like to say to myself, "I've done what I've done.  I haven't done what I haven't done.  And that's that."

About Me

Marita ChengForbes named me a world's top 50 woman in tech & 30 Under 30. I founded Robogals and Aipoly and was Young Australian of the Year 2012. Currently working on robotics company Aubot. I'm the youngest Member of the Order of Australia (AM) and I give speeches around the world.

I tweet @maritacheng and I'm on Facebook.

Subscribe

Enter your email address to receive my latest blog posts: 

 

Random Articles

  • Obviously successful

    "We would have bought your company." "You just got lucky because it was the right time for that kind of thing." "All the elements in the industry were...

  • Everything is perfect

    Whatever anyone does, whatever anyone says, is aligned with how they see the world. And so decisions people make are always perfect for them in the...

  • No amount of hoping and praying can substitute hard work

    Want to do something but you don't feel like it? Want to start a company but you feel the first step is too high and too hard?  Want to get fit but...

  • YouthActionNet Global Fellowship Day 0: The "best" and "better" plans

    A month ago, I came up with a list of the things I wanted to consider during my YouthActionNet Fellowship retreat.  In the 24 hours that it took me...

  • Piano lessons

    When I was younger, we couldn't afford a piano at home, so my mum would take me to my piano teacher's house each day to practise for an hour. I...

  • Stop the world, I want to get off!

    Uni, business, studies, networking- like clockwork, life never seems to stop moving.  Rushing through breakfast to get to lectures on time, quick...

  • How to choose your projects

    Ask yourself: 1.  What do I want to learn? 2. What do I already know? Then: 3.  Devise a project you’re interested in that involves others - Create a...

  • Australia-Israel Chamber of Commerce Trade Mission

    I led a trip to Israel with Wyatt Roy, Assistant Minister for Innovation, for a group of 45 entrepreneurs, politicians and business people, in order to...

  • Asia Game Changer West

    Growing up, I read stories about technology being created in San Francisco. So I was truly honoured when I was named an inaugural Asia Society...

  • Wall of Change

    I have a wall in my room where the artwork is sheets of paper blu-tacked next to each other, forming a rectangle.  I call it my "Wall of Change" My...

Enter your email address to receive my latest blog posts: 

 

Scroll to Top