New Lessons Gained from Ridley’s TEDx Event!

Ever wanted to hear the intellectual thoughts and reflections of your peers? Well, Ridley’s student body has found a way to display them!  Early this month, Ridley hosted its second-annual TEDx event, an exciting event featuring engaging & educational topics that were presented with incredible public speaking skills from students. This year’s TEDx presentations were organized by a dedicated student committee, which was led by current Ridley prefects, Nantume Masturah ’25 & Ines Ahrazem Valladoid ’25. The theme of this year’s Ridley College TEDx event was ‘The Power of Youth’, a theme showcasing the impact of youth involvement and engagement. Following this inspiring theme, our selected presenters talked about the facilitators of youth-driven change, the unique experiences of Gen Z, and how the typically ignored curiosity of youth can turn into life-changing discoveries. With these informative and personal viewpoints being brought to the stage, this event and each of the speeches were truly something to remember!

During this awaited event, I got the opportunity to present my reflections to the Ridley community. I shared the stage with three other student speakers: Aaria Nair ’26, Emily Kim ’26, and a guest speaker from Sir Winston Churchill Secondary School, Elza Mehdiyev! When reflecting on what our theme, ‘The Power of Youth,” meant to me, I began to consider the factors that truly inspire and facilitate youth-driven change. When we see change being led by young people, we tend to think of famous activists or internationally renowned movements, but what about the smaller actions of change? Education and empathy are two of the main factors behind change, but these are two qualities that many students either aren’t proficient in or don’t take seriously. With this connection in mind, I found that encouraging young people to educate themselves holistically can inspire great change, and this encouragement was my main aim during my speech, especially towards my peers who were watching. But, how do young people learn empathy? When I look back at my childhood, I found out that my hobby of reading books surprisingly helped me develop the important trait of empathy. My childhood favourite books, which included Wonder by R.J. Polacio & Out of My Mind by Sharon M. Draper, taught me about the experiences and perspectives of others, helping me understand basic empathy. I hypothesized that there is so much impact that comes from reading a simple book, especially since many modern novels tell of stories based on real-life social issues. This topic holds much passion for me, and I loved getting to explore it more in my speech. So, perhaps when you have any free time, think about picking up a book that’s lying around the Iggy Learning Commons!

This unique event truly displayed just how youth impact can be displayed in different ways, especially hearing it from Ridley’s skilled public speakers. This event truly showcased just how much we can learn from hearing the perspectives of others.