Neha Sharma

Neha Sharma is a sophomore in Trinity Valley School. She loves to play volleyball and have fun with her friends. She is currently involved in Sustainibility Club, Community Service Club, Newspaper Club, and she is the treasurer in World Cultures Club.

Stand Up for Yourself

Santosh Murugan

Santosh is a sophomore at Trinity Valley School. He has a special interest in scientific research, which led to his discovery of bioresorbable bone tissue this past year. He has won numerous science awards at both the regional and state levels, including an invitation from Governor Perry to participate in a Science Champions Academy. He is also a national champion in Indian dance, and is a second degree black belt. In his free time, Santosh enjoys playing golf and table tennis, traveling worldwide, and participating in debate/speech tournaments. He volunteers extensively for the American Red Cross, and is the Cofounder and Vice President of Bright Future for Blind, a non-profit organization dedicated to helping the visually impaired and economically-disadvantaged people in India. This experience and frustration concerning a lack of aids for them is the motivation for his speech, which he hopes will help millions of visually impaired people and raise awareness of their plight.

A Bright Future for the Blind

Garrison Roe

Garrison is a junior at TVS and has a passion for politics and public policy. He is a member of the drumline, tennis team, debate club, and a regular attendee of the Political Club. He has a desire to educate people on political issues that pose philosophical questions that face his generation, so that more people will be capable of forming opinions to address these concerns.

Peace Through War

Michael Johns

Michael is a senior at Trinity Valley School and enjoys running track and cross country. He serves as captains for these sports, as well as President of the Political Club and was a founding member of the Debate Team. His interest in Finance led him to seek an internship with TPG Capital, where he has worked for three summers. Michael hopes to study Finance in college and one day pursue an MBA.

Campaign Finance

Garrison Roe and Neil Tapiavala

Garrison is a sophomore at TVS and has a passion for politics and public policy. He is a member of the drumline, tennis team, and a regular attendee of the Political Club. He also has extensive business interests that have led him to placing 4th in the UIL State Accounting contest in 2011 and becoming an international contestant for marketing in the DECA ICDC 2011 competition. Neil ia a sophomore at TVS. His primary interests are debate, soccer, and politics. His goal for this event is to educate others and educate himself on topics that are at hand through the TEDx event.

Parth Kalaria and Krishna Tiwari

Parth is a sophomore at Trinity Valley School. He enjoys playing tennis and is on the varsity team at Trinity Valley. In his free time, he enjoys playing chess, keeping up with current events, and traveling with his family. He is a founding member of the Trinity Valley Math and Debate Teams, and loves to compete frequently in both. Naturally, he loves interacting with people and hopes to pursue a career that centers on direct human interaction. Such an interest inspired his talk on the “Dedication Effect” which focuses around human interaction and the spread of knowledge from one to thousands in the future.Krishna is a sophomore at TVS. He plays football and soccer, and is a member of the debate and math teams.



Reflection
Our topic for TEDx Youth Day, the “Dedication Effect,” had been on the backburner of our minds for a while. We felt we needed to share our idea with others, but did not have a medium in which we could do so. After we heard about TEDx Youth Day, we felt it was a great opportunity to spread the “Dedication Effect.” We decided that it was important for the world to realize the importance of helping others and its positive effect. In addition, we felt that those who have dedicated their time to teach deserve recognition and should not be taken for granted. We liked that our piece was personal and seemed to connect with others. However, we felt that we could improve our presentation by adding information on how people can get involved and help others. Overall, we enjoyed sharing the “Dedication Effect” and look forward to presenting it in the future.

Annie Jacobs and Colleen Houston

Annie is a sophomore at Trinity Valley School. She plays club soccer and is an enthusiastic cross country runner. She has studied Spanish in Mexico for the past two summers and spent ten days in Costa Rica on an Outward Bound trip. She currently serves as sophomore class president and hopes to someday have a career involving international work and travel. Colleen is a junior at Trinity Valley. She is a member of the varsity cheer squad, as well as a member in Community Service Club, Sustainability Club, Home Ec Club, and Book Club. She hopes to study health sciences in college and pursue becoming a dietician.



Reflection

Working on my Ted talk was a true pleasure because I was acquiring new knowledge the entire way. The majority of my research and preparation for my talk "Solving the Hunger Gap" came from a book called "Waste: Uncovering the Global Food Scandal" (by Tristam Stuart). This book was truly enlightening and gave me the information I needed for my presentation. It also touched me personally because it went into depth about the problems and consequences that arise from wasting food. Due to busy schedules, it was a little difficult to find time to rehearse the talk with my partner, Colleen, but in the end it all worked out! I would definelty like to do another Ted talk next year!! Annie Jacobs

Emily Hooper

Emily is a Senior at TVS. She has many interests including, writing, playing field hockey, traveling, and playing guitar. Emily was recently diagnosed with Celiac Disease and is active in raising awareness about the challenges of living a "gluten-free" lifestyle. Emily hopes to college in the northeast this upcoming year and study broadcast journalism and international communications.

Michael Johns

Michael is a junior at Trinity Valley School and enjoys running track and cross country. He serves as President of the Political Club and was a founding member of the Debate Team. His interest in Finance led him to seek an internship with a financial firm over the past two summers and he hopes to study Finance and Economics in college.






Reflection

The knowledge gained from understanding significant economic events is invaluable. The challenge, however, lies in ensuring that as many people as possible can understand and benefit from these events. My presentation was the culmination of research surrounding the singular goal of making the 2008 Financial Crisis easy to comprehend. TEDx challenged me to give a presentation that could be understood by someone with no financial background (like many Americans.) I learned to see a historical event from a different perspective, and this perspective allowed me to give a comprehensible presentation. The best TED Talks are the ones that have passion, and anyone wishing to create and present their own should do exactly that: find their passion and share it with the world. Mine is Finance. What is yours?