This weekend...: TEDxTeen
I walked into the TED conference not knowing what to expect. I arrived early and realized how many different types of people were there. I had no idea this was going to be an international event, or that all the people would look so professional. It was daunting. And then, out of nowhere, this little teeny bopper girls comes over to me. I immediately felt relaxed...until she asked me, as serious as can be, "so...What do YOU do!?" I replied that I was a high school student in virginia, and she repeated her question, "No, but what do you DO?" I didn't know how to respond. Thoughts raced through my head: what does she mean? whats she trying to ask? What DO I DO?? It was a question I soon realized I needed to answer.
My trip to TED made me understand how tangible global change really is. The idea of kids younger than me and other young women and men going out and taking control of the future is infectious. These speakers before me were not very different from myself, and had taken the intiative. They provided examples, advice and connections to becoming an activist.
One man, an artist in New York City, gave me the idea of how the purest meaning of an idea or message will become contagious. His message: Love me, has spread throughout New York City in graffiti and can now be found all over the world. His simple idea can be teh same as Farah Pandith's (another speaker at the conference) "Youthquake." A ripple effect young people have on society through social media and the information age. A theme throughout the conference was how the connections on line have broke division and barriar in creating social change. It has also elimanated a strong factor of fear. One of my favorite speakers, Jeremey Heimans stressed the importance of the web over social change. Politicians are chanied by compting parties and re-elections. They are a face in the public eye: an effective movement is not a face, but an idea. A true social innovator, a disruptive innovator, someone who solves problems with news inventions and ideals instead of directly solving the problem--is effective. These people are most effective when they are a so-called "anonymous extraoridanary," letting their idea lead instead of themselves.
The first woman I met at TED, Tammy Tibbets, is a prime example of this new-age leader and changer. She is the social media worker for Seventeen Magazine by day, and presdient of her own non-profit organization "She's the First" by night. Shes's the First is an organization celebrating young women in education or the working world. They partner with schools in Uganda, India and Tunsinia- to name a few. Tammy was a college graduate, but her story made this life and actions seem so accesible.
These men and women have led me to my own beliefs about creating change. They have made me feel as if I can do something. That I need to focus on something. That I can be the change they are, and that I really need to get going on it.
Creativity is key to the process. Without a creative mind, and the idea of accepting failures with perserverence you will never achieve your goal. The creative, ready and active minds of youth today are leading the world. The effective change happening is inevitable. Revolutions, such as the Egyptian Revolution, have been spurred by the ideas flowing at this conference. Our generation has more technology and means to create movements than any previous generation. Innovation, however, is the key to a progressive and prosperous future. One quote that they showed at the conference that stuck with me was a quote by Steve Jobs: "The difference between a leader and a follower is innovation." To be a leader today, you don't need to get up on a podium and make some big long speech and run for election, you need to be active. You need to be communative. You need to let an idea speak for itself. And if your idea is good enough, it will create the change it needs to.
I have to begin to answer the question of: What do I do? Right now, I am creating a sufficient list to What will I do? I want to spread my ideas about the power of youth that I learned from this conference. I want other kids to see that how plausbile it is to really, actually, change the world.
No comments:
Post a Comment