by Taylor Jones
Contact: taylorjones9393@gmail.com
What gets a bunch of sleepy teenagers up at 10:00 a.m. on a Saturday morning? The answer is simple: TEDx Youth Monterey. For more than twenty-five years, the TED exhibition has been traversing the globe, hosting TED Talks in which presenters enlighten the audience about their “ideas worth sharing,” ranging from “the myths of ADHD” to “riding New York subways in your underpants.” Today, hundreds of kids and a scattered handful of adults gather in the World Theatre at California State University of Monterey Bay to experience TEDx Youth Monterey, a special TED event held annually since 2009 in devotion to the young people inspiring the innovations of tomorrow.
Floating upon billowy clouds projected from theatre lights, I feel a sense of curiosity, determination, and appreciation for higher learning among the audience members as they file into their seats. The first presenter, Johan Khalilian, appropriately fits in the “determination” category. Khalilian grew up in the rougher side of Chicago, which he comically relates to the polar opposite of Disneyland, where Mickey Mouse is a drug dealer and Minnie Mouse is a pregnant teen. He paints a picture of a harsh environment and goes on to talk about how his high school counselor discouraged him from pursuing the University of Chicago, the college of his dreams. However, Khalilian argues that you should always believe in yourself without letting others put you down, because we can choose to be either “a product of our dreams, or a product of our environment.”
As Andrea Blunt steps into the spotlight, she emits a presence like she’s been onstage many times before. In fact, the singer-songwriter has performed with countless artists, playing all kinds of music including classical, hip-hop, punk, and folk to name a few. Today, she plays her original song “Iron Spine,” which blends her variety of musical influences to create her own unique sound. What is also notably unique about Blunt’s solo performance is that she accompanies her vocals with an accordion, giving the song a broad, full sound as she pumps air in and out of the chamber. With the accordion, she shows her classical and folk training by composing an enchanting melody (that would continue playing in my head for days afterwards). Her enticing voice demonstrates her pop elements, belting lyrics such as “losing my head start” and “breaking my own heart” and carries a performance that duly receives a standing ovation.
A student from Robert Lewis Stevenson High School named Richie Senegor rolls his mobile science lab on stage next. In his presentation titled The Science of Science, Senegor speaks out for the importance of science in not only education, but in our everyday lives as well. Realizing the youths’ epidemic of losing interest in science, Senegor determines the main problem being there is simply not enough “discovery” anymore. Kids grow endlessly tired of homework and rote memorization and therefore do not find the subject very engaging. However, Senegor’s proposal promotes a method of teaching in which labs are constructed by giving the students an end result and letting them figure out how to get there themselves. Through this method that Senegor has tested on his classmates, student will experience the frustration of having no idea what to do, experimenting with variables that may help them or divert them, and inherently bring back the “discovery” in science.
Bring Music “Bach,” presented by violinist Iljin Cho, expresses the importance of keeping arts and music alive in schools. He argues that music opens up our minds to more vast fields of thinking, leading to better mental and physical health. As Cho questions, I also ask “why are we cutting music in schools? Why are the arts the first programs to go?” I don’t understand how the arts, the basis for any culture, can be selectively diminished from our school systems. On a bittersweet note, music, art, drama, photography, dance, and other kinds of creative classes are the only things keeping some kids in school. I, for one, know my school life would be much less enthralling without the opportunity to play music and express myself everyday.
After performing in TEDx with my own band, Mozzo Kush, I am so honored to have been a part of such an inspiring event. We played the single “Checked In to Check Out” off of our new album Mozzo Kush and had a blast doing it. I thank CSUMB and the organizers of TEDx for putting the show together, because without them none of this could have happened. Whether or not your dream is to sail across the Pacific Ocean, build your dream house for the homeless, or develop a tri-photo code to encrypt messages, you have a dream—it’s never too late or too early to follow it, so why not start now?
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