Wednesday, March 25, 2015 // The Statement 3B

From the Pews: Listening to TEDx sermons 

F

riday morning I woke 
early, walked to the 
Power Center and sat 

down in the large auditorium star-
ing up at a black, daunting stage. I 
waited with so many others to be 
enlightened by the speakers of the 
TEDxUofM “Constructive Inter-
ference” annual conference.

Maybe it was the masses of peo-

ple following each other blindly 
into the building, the tone in the 
voice of each TEDx staff member 
as they encouraged us to interact 
with our surrounding commu-
nity members, or the expectations 
each of us held that we were about 
to listen to something — no mat-
ter how small — that would alter 
our life. I couldn’t help but consis-
tently compare this experience to 
my early experiences of waking to 
sit and listen to a sermon from the 
pastor at our Methodist church.

Forgetting about my tiredness, 

I sat, eyes glued, to the well-versed, 
engaging speakers, holding the 
same expectations I have when I 
sit in church: expecting to learn 

something new, expecting to be 
challenged, expecting to be skep-
tical. The speakers repeatedly 
shared an experience, acknowl-
edged their mistakes (taking those 
mistakes as learning experiences 
and not failures), and offered some 
small piece of advice, constructive 
criticism of our society, or per-
spective on how to look at life.

TED is a nonprofit, nonparti-

san foundation that is dedicated to 
spreading ideas and information 
across the world through short, 
18-minute or less, talks. Begin-
ning in 1984, Richard Saul Wur-
man 
discovered 
that 
mixing 

technology, entertainment, and 
design 
into 
one 
conversation 

could produce innovative ideas. 
TED’s mission is to generate ideas 
that will impact the attitudes and 
lives of the people in the world; 
“building a clearinghouse of free 
knowledge from the world’s most 
inspired thinkers.”

Seeing as I took TEDx to be my 

own form of religion for the day, I 
only feel it fitting I share some of 

these insights.

Aditi 
Hardikar, 
the 
White 

House’s primary liaison to LGBT 
and Asian American and Pacific 
Islander communities, told me 
to reframe my disadvantages as 
advantages. That suffering from 
too many feelings of inadequacy 
can be a physiological disorder 
and something that we must com-
bat — can combat — by identifying 
what we know from what we don’t 
know.

Jill Halpern, a teacher at the 

University’s 
Comprehensive 

Studies Program, told me about 
how to nurture every part of my 
brain, even parts I’m not fully 
aware of. That love and human 
connection are the most impor-
tant skills to learn in any class-
room, even among a group of 
calculus students.

And Dory Gannes, founder of 

the nonprofit Olevolos Project, 
a nonprofit that funds scholar-
ships for children in Tanzania, 
told me not to change the world. 
That spending money in the right 

places can be chal-
lenging, that making 
sustainable change 
in a place like East 
Africa 
is 
almost 

impossible, 
that 

trusting people who 
later betray you can 
be one of the biggest 
mistakes. So instead 
of trying to move big 
rocks in the world, 
I should reconsider 
this 
dream 
and 

instead focus on bet-
tering the world in 
small ways, in ways 
that better myself.

In an age where 

the number of peo-
ple 
who 
affiliate 

with 
any 
religion 

is 
declining, 
I’m 

inspired by our soci-
ety’s dedication to 
organizations 
like 

TED. I can’t say I’m 
surprised 
though; 

listening 
to 
TED 

talks bettered me as 
an individual more 
than 
any 
sermon 

ever has.

B E A V E R C R E E K , C O

“The Hotel de Paris exists in the heart of downtown, 

and represents the once prosperous town of 

Georgetown.”

Find the rest of this photo story on Page 4.

B Y C L A I R E B R YA N
JOINING THE TEAM
ON THE 
RECORD

“Authenticity: that’s been our campaign strategy. Just 
at this rally we talked about creating a platform and 

empowering people, but we’re not waiting until we get 

elected; we’re doing that now, and that’s something that we 

have a track record of.”

-CSG presidential candidate and ENGINEERING 
JUNIOR WILL ROYSTER at Tuesday’s rally for The 

Team on his party’s campaign initiatives

ZACH MOORE/DAILY

ILLUSTRATION BY MAGGIE MILLER