Last weekend, Hewitt hosted our 5th annual TEDxYouth event with based upon the theme of “Worlds Imagined.” Each speaker interpreted this theme differently and focused on individual worlds imagined based on experiences and passions. I asked each of the speaker-turned-interviewees three questions:

  1. What would it look/be like if you ruled the world?
  2. Who/what inspired you to become who you are today?
  3. How are you going to change the world?

Here are a handful of the interviews!

Preston Chaunsumlit hosted and spoke at the event. He found his calling at New York City’s School of Visual Arts and now works as the casting director at VFiles. Preston believes that “an imagined world is the product of transcendence in creation of new interpretations of our previous means. It is the act of recreation, and the disposition of introspective contentment through craft.  Though not always achievable, self-sincerity and passion drives those, out of confined spaces, to find existential commitment to define their own world.”

 

Samantha Stephens owns OatMeals, the world’s first oatmeal bar. Her passion for food, and especially oatmeal, started when she moved to New York. Oatmeal was a delicious and affordable food choice for Samantha, living on a budget in the city. Soon, she started eating it for breakfast, lunch, and dinner. After a few years, keeping the idea of opening an oatmeal bar in the back of her head, she decided to jump a step closer to her dream and went to The French Culinary Institute’s Pastry Arts Program to learn more about food. After she graduated, she opened OatMeals and became the Creative OatMeal Officer of Quaker Oats.

 

Michelle Joni is a dreamer, believer, and probably your spirit animal. She opens up your imagination and brings out the light-hearted child in you, that people tend to forget about with the stresses of daily life. She is the founder of Michelle Joni’s Skipping Club, a group of people who, just for a few hours a week, leave behind the stresses and pressures of their daily lives to skip together. They meet on Thursday afternoons to let go of everything and enjoy the simple act of skipping.

 

Melissa Kathryn wants women and girls to love their bodies and themselves. She promotes an attitude of security in physical appearance and helps girls with this issue through healthy living and positive thinking. Her unique method includes nutrition, fitness, mindset, and styling so that girls can achieve confidence in their own bodies and overcome negative beliefs which limit them from achieving their goals.

 

Sophie Houser & Andy Gonzales created the viral video game Tampon RunThey made this game  together as a project at the summer intensive coding program, Girls Who Code. They had two goals in mind when creating Tampon Run: (1) combatting the social taboo of menstruation and (2) encouraging more girls to get into coding. The game caught attention from Today, The New York Daily News, Time magazine, Feministing, and many more media outlets.

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