Theme: One Step Back, Two Steps Forward: Unlearning to Relearn

The world is being catapulted into a new era. Science and technology is breaching further into the uncharted, history is unveiling hidden truths and stories untold, and the decisions we make not only impact millions of lives today but the livelihood of tomorrow. The more we discover, the more opportunity we have to reflect, personally or as a society, about the direction of our journey. To unlearn is to listen and learn resilience from our setbacks. To relearn is to take a step towards change.

One step back, two steps forward celebrates our potential to build back better. From rekindling appreciation for lost culture, redefining systemic issues in social norms, to realizing the urgency of the climate crisis, now more than ever, it is time to relearn how to step forward.

Thank you to everybody who attended our event! See our photos here: https://flic.kr/s/aHBqjzSGaL
Watch our speaker's talks here:

Abbey Park High School Theatre
1455 Glen Abbey Gate
OAKVILLE, Ontario, L6M 2G5
Canada

Abdullah Malik

Student

Say hello to Abdullah Malik, a Grade 12 student from White Oaks Secondary School. He will speak about the true power of student voice and the incredible benefits of engagement in the classroom. Abdullah wants to take on this opportunity in order for his voice to be heard. He feels that the opinions of youth are constantly downplayed, so to be able to share his thoughts is exciting. Abdullah is passionate about working out and improving himself, living by the notion that, to live a fulfilling life, one needs better themselves in ways that make one happier. His greatest role model is the Prophet Muhammed as he lived by qualities like selflessness, honesty, trustworthiness, and righteousness; he inspires Abdullah to instill such qualities into his own life.

Aidan Cullen

Student

Meet Aidan Cullen, a Grade 12 student from Abbey Park High School. He will be speaking about how referencing other people’s work can help to enhance and take one’s own creativity to new heights. He hopes to use this experience to discover something new about himself, moving forth past high school, while also establishing his role in the community. Aidan is most fuelled by the potential to show his creativity in the realm of AI and video games. He believes that seeing them achieving great things with their work and contributing to the world we live in today inspires him to do the same. Aidan feels his talk will be successful if it helps the audience to overcome obstacles in their own life; he hopes his philosophy will stick with the listeners, even if it’s just for a few days after the talk, and that they can share his ideas with others in their lives who are facing challenges, whether code related or not.

Alisha Mohanty

Student

Meet Alisha Mohanty, a Grade 11 student from Abbey Park High School! She will be talking about the culture of mainstream media, the misrepresentation and misinformation flourishing within our society, and how important it is for people to balance their need to stay informed, take action, and practice self-care. She hopes the audience can embrace the importance of constructive journalism and begin to examine its potential to pave the way for a reconciliation between hopeful and pessimistic news. Alisha is most inspired by the challenges she’s faced in her life. While they are meant to be difficult, they also stimulate hope, call for creativity, and ultimately inspire her to be better. She wanted to use the conference as a platform to speak out on a very pertinent topic and have her ideas resonate with the audience so that together, we can work towards creating tangible, lasting change. I am very excited to be a part of this year’s TEDx conference!

Emma Li

Student

Meet Emma Li, a Grade 10 student from White Oaks Secondary School. She will be speaking about how there’s a way for people to become just as smart as the machines we are building in order to make AI development safer; Brain Computer Interfaces. She hopes that the audience can take away a sense of realization regarding how fast our world is growing and just how exciting yet dangerous that can be.

Kyra Kaushal

Student

Meet Kyra Kaushal, a Grade 12 student from Abbey Park High School. She will be speaking about what she really thinks of the whole “self care and wellness” movement in the media and why it’s oftentimes more toxic than helpful. Kyra is extremely determined, taking on this opportunity to push herself, plain and simple. She feels that joining other extracurriculars has made her much stronger throughout high school so knows a new, harder challenge like this will be both exciting and scary. Kyra’s biggest inspiration is daily life, and watching passion in any form. Musicians, chefs, mathematicians- people that are dedicated to doing something that they love. The fire in their passion inspires her, all magnified by her feelings during the pandemic.

Neha Srinivasan

Student

Meet Neha, a Grade 11 student from Abbey Park High School! Her talk will provide a true insight into the misconceptions of body image and eating disorders. With public speaking having always been a passion of hers, Neha wanted to take on this opportunity to truly challenge herself. She is involved in many initiatives at school such as her roles in DECA, law society, art club, athletic council, and engineering club. Outside of school, she loves playing piano, expressing herself through art and programming, and providing support for families struggling from the effects of cancer. Neha’s biggest inspiration is reaching out to help others and pushing herself to be the best that she possibly can be. Adding to this is her biggest role model, her father, as he’s overcome many adversities to get where he is and has helped her to become the person she is today. Neha can’t wait to share her thoughts at the conference next month!

Rachel Strathdee

Student

Say hi to Rachel Strathdee, a Grade 11 student from Abbey Park High School. She will be speaking about the problem that is the influence of existing perceptions and implicit biases and how they shape our views and our understanding of both current and historical events. She hopes that the potential the TEDxYouth@AbbeyParkHS platform has to facilitate real change in the community will allow her to share ideas that she's passionate about with a large, like-minded audience. Rachel hopes that her speech will encourage the audience to take a more conscientious approach when considering their perspective and that of those around them.

Rob Burton

Rob Burton is a political candidate and currently stands as the Mayor of Oakville. He feels that learning, unlearning, and relearning engages more critical thinking skills, enhancing your ability to continuously analyze, evaluate, and challenge your knowledge to remain relevant and timely. Our ability to unlearn and relearn is a result of neuroplasticity - the foundation of a growth mindset. By teaching people how to learn, unlearn, and relearn, we can add a powerful new dimension to education. Tomorrow's illiterate will not be someone who cannot read; it will be someone who does not know how to learn. Rob believes that, as youth are the future of this world, it is imperative that they get a head start by getting involved in matters that affect the world. Through youth activism, they have the ability to engage in situations that force them to learn about the issues related to society, giving them an in-depth understanding of how politics and government work. Youth activism is important to children and adults alike. Adults aren't always privy to the views that youth have on issues. There are matters affecting youth that need to be publicized, and this will not happen unless youth are given a voice.

Sienna Su

Student

Say hi to Sienna Su, a Grade 9 student from Iroquois Ridge High School! Her talk will cover our need to redefine our approach to health crises and how individuals can take small steps to protect their own health. She wishes for the audience to understand the importance of acting quickly for a better future and hopes to empower other youth to take action, as it is so important to initiate discussions for change in a time when it is needed more than ever. Her biggest inspiration to drive forwards are the moments of strength, love, and kindness of people in the world. She especially looks up to the perseverance patients have when they are dealing with a medical condition, and the devotion doctors show to treat their patients; it truly motivates her to pursue work in the healthcare field in the future.

Wesley Meynen

Student

Wesley will be speaking about how, in today’s society, loneliness has been present for all ages, only heightened by the COVID 19 pandemic. He believes that as the world is being catapulted into a new era, learning techniques on how to deal with loneliness is important and together, as an inclusive community, we can work together on how to improve the well being of our society as a whole. Wesley is not only inspired by Michael Jordan’s work ethic and dedication, but also his dad who is consistently pushing him to surpass his boundaries and learn the value of hard work. From his speech, Wesley hopes that his audience will take away the importance of understanding what makes us lonely and how to overcome these challenges. Especially during times of COVID and during quarantine, we have all felt these emotions and he wants his audience to walk out feeling heard, with a deeper understanding of loneliness, and having the ability to help somebody else.