TEDxFrisco HS Youth is an opportunity for high school students to share their ideas to a platform of over 40 million people through the TED organization, and when I got the message that TEDx had approved my license to host an event, I could hardly contain my excitement.
This was the most challenging project I have ever taken on, but it was also the most rewarding. Over the course of eight months I led a team 30+ individuals towards producing the final TEDx event our audience experienced. This was the first ever live TEDx event in my school district, so I was pioneering this event into existence. I understood the weight of this opportunity for my peers and wanted to provide a fair chance for students to speak, so my team and I hosted auditions for a very selective spot on the speaking line up. We had over 50 students deliver 5-minute speeches and from there the applicants were narrowed down to a slim 5. I worked closely with the selected speakers to critique and improve their speeches over the course of two months. I was also responsible for creating and then meeting tight deadlines to ensure all aspects were covered by our event date. I oversaw marketing operations, fundraising and financing, speaker relations, decorations, event promotion, operations, and even emceed the event; all while managing a rigorous academic course load and other time consuming commitments. But, it was all worth it. I distinctly remember looking around at the team of people that supported me through this journey and feeling nothing but proud of everything we had accomplished and eagerness to do it all again.
