Chinguun Sergelen
National Children’s Campaign Ambassador
My name is Chinguun Sergelen and I am from Chicago. I am currently in 10th grade and a working actor. I was raised by my awesome parents and grandparents who taught me to be honest, driven and responsible. As an Asian-American, I know the struggles of being a minority. This taught me to be more mindful and respectful to others and others’ cultures. This eventually made me want to help other communities as much as possible. I am very honored to have been a cast member of Nickelodeon’s reboot of the popular variety and sketch comedy series of All That. I am proud to become the first-ever Asian American series regular in the eleventh season of the otherwise ethnically diverse cast of All That. Since its inception, All That has been a leader in its inclusion and diversity of the show cast. I am very thankful that, during my time working on All That, I never had to play any Asian stereotypes. I would like to carry on this amazing legacy of diversity and inclusion that was created by Legends at Nickelodeon in the Entertainment Industry since 1994. Thanks to this experience, I got to meet and work with seven very talented cast mates who inspired me to better myself in many aspects of my life.
I also was lucky enough to work on TIME magazine and Nickelodeon’s first-ever Kid of the Year special. Working on this show exposed me to many amazing kids who are doing more than many adults to better our world. I had the best time and feel very blessed to get to know these very unique and talented kids who are changing the world at such a young age.
During the taping of the show, I campaigned for Gitanjali Rao to win Kid of the Year. To my surprise, she won which even made this experience more impactful to me. The impact of her work is huge and international. I think she’s delivering kindness through technology and it’s going to help our generation, as well as the next generations to come. I believe that her inventions and spirit to share her knowledge can lead and inspire us all to strive to change the world for the better!
This showed me that even though I was still a kid, I needed to work more. These kids were amazing: they were working for more social justice, working on recycling, and even making crayons that matched skin tones of all people. I’m so proud of the kids in my generation who are really doing amazing things and leading the world. This experience showed me how important youth voices are in making changes. I see kids making small changes in their own ways and, in turn, they are reaching out to their community and beyond and making a real impact for the better.
These learning experiences taught me to want to help even more. After working on KOTY, I had the opportunity to help out at the Children’s inauguration event. During this event, I heard so many youth voices and learned so much. Participating in this event let me use my voice to call needed attention to important topics such as mental health wellness, affordable education and anti cyberbullying initiatives.
During the National Children’s Campaign, I got a chance to express my interests in improving our country for its youth, so they can lead us to a better future. I shared these three things that the administration could do for my generation. First was to invest in mental healthcare so all youth have an opportunity to have 1 on 1 mental health wellness checks regularly. This could help lower growing rates of anxiety and depression in kids my age. Second was lowering the cost of colleges across the country, and relieving student debt for low income students. This could make college a viable option for all american students. Finally, having been inspired by Gitanjali Rao from Kid of the Year, the government can invest in anti-cyberbullying programs similar to hers. This will foster a safe environment for kids to learn and grow.
My participation in the Children’s Inauguration Event led me to the opportunity to become an ambassador for the National Children’s Campaign.
During this pandemic, two major events happened. BLM and STOP ASAIN HATE. These movements worked to stop racial injustices. These protests exposed me to a world that I know can be improved. As soon as these movements started making an impact, I had great hope that they would be very beneficial to helping stop racial injustices.
All these experiences in my life have encouraged me to help others as much as I can. Working with the National Children’s Campaign is a great chance for me to fulfill this goal.