On March 6, the SaintFrancisTEDx program hosted its annual event consisting of seven student speakers and, for the first time, a teacher speaker as a part of their annual conference. On campus, TEDx is a student-run program. It is expanded from the global organization TED and has produced creative and innovative talks for the past six years. Dedicated to their motto of “Ideas Change Everything,” this group spends almost a year perfecting the process so that the audience leaves excited to help change the world.

Before the night started in Graham Theater, TEDx hosted a pre-event alumni get-together in the Eggers Innovation theater, where attendees could meet some of the speakers and board. This year, I was the event’s keynote speaker where I highlighted my four years of TEDx commitment and overall appreciation for the family I’ve found. Being in my final year of TEDx, this event was very full circle, and I was able to recount all of my special memories: starting with me giving a TEDx talk my freshman year to ending with a talk to alumni in the Eggers Innovation Center. I’ve grown deeply attached to this group, and I was grateful for the opportunity to share my experiences beyond just the students.

Overall, the eight talks were split into two blocks of four with an intermission in the middle. The first speaker was Akhil Ranjeet (’27), who emphasized how native accents can automatically create a limitation when people focus on sound over meaning. Then, junior Lauren Williams spoke in her talk “This Ain’t Texas” about the difference between Black culture in the South as opposed to in the Bay Area, which was followed by Avani Thakur (’27) who discussed her unique approach to serving others by combining engineering and science. 

The last speaker in the first block was the first teacher speaker in the history of TEDx, Dr. Steven Petelo. Dr. Petelo was one of the best choices because of his powerful stage presence and interesting life connection to the juvenile justice system. In his talk, he distinguished between education and schooling and explained how his doctoral research illustrates how providing opportunities for exploration can stabilize the future for underprivileged children. When asked about how impactful Dr. Petelo’s talk was, senior Miguel Malicse shared, “Honestly, if I wasn’t a part of TEDx at all, I’d just go to see Dr. Petelo. And I’m excited to potentially have more teacher talks in the future because the only thing that separates them from us is they’ve lived longer.” As the club expands, the board hopes that many of the teachers on campus will continue to share their unique experiences that the audience can learn from.

After the intermission, the second block started with senior Avery Lee, who challenged the way people evaluate art, film, and personal tastes by restructuring the current five-star rating system. Then, Aadya Shiven Kumar (’28) spoke about the connections between Carnatic (Indian classical) and Western music; this was followed by the penultimate talk by senior Eric Fernandez about his understanding of love growing up in an immigrant family. The last speaker of the night was Nathan Panchouli (’28) who gave an entertaining talk about constantly chasing first place, only to find that a protected ego can lead to far worse outcomes. 

Throughout this entire process, the establishment of an entirely student-run organization is what allows the group to flourish. Lee shared that, “even if [board members] weren’t necessarily working directly with my talk, everyone showed an interest… they wanted to help whether that be in my writing [or] through my speaking.” Their overall support made rehearsals Lee’s favorite part of TEDx and helped calm her nerves when the final day came around. Even new mentors shared a similar sentiment, as Sav Mann (’27) commented that being surrounded by students allows for more “trial and error” because students aren’t worried as much about the way critiques may be received by their fellow classmates. 

TEDxSaintFrancis will forever be a legacy both on and off campus as its impact on students, parents, alumni, and teachers will serve as guidelines for a better future. TEDx hopes its audience will be inspired to take initiative in their own life. As a group, TEDx hopes that the lessons the audience learned will guide their actions toward promoting community, equality, and understanding—something that the next generation is moving to change one step at a time. “I think at the end… this is a feature,” Lee states. “And I think that being a part of TEDx is a little bit of insight to what the future has to offer and what our generation specifically cares about… and what is coming in the future.”