Camille Davis ’27 presented a TedxPhillipsAcademy talk on the signifi- cance of slang and how it connects people in Tang Auditorium.
The Oliver Wendell Holmes Library (OWHL) hosted TEDxPhillipsAcademy, a collection of student talks centered around the theme of “The New Normal: Youth Voices in a Fractured Age,” on April 27. Students presented on topics including gene editing and human altruism, calling for action on a plethora of fronts.
TEDx presenter Brandon Fu ’25 recalled some of the challenges that came with the planning and preparation process. He included his own unforeseen struggles and how his own experience as a jazz musician who often must think spontaneously helped him worked around them.
“We got selected at the end of February and started preparing our talks once we came back from Spring break. There were challenges. It was a fast process, and it was made even faster for me because I contracted bronchitis and missed a week of preparation. [This] meant I had a week less to write and memorize a script for my talk which was challenging, but ultimately, we all managed to pull through and give some great talks,” said Fu.
As an avid musician, Fu decided to speak about his passion for jazz. In his talk, he discussed how improvisation and the abilities of jazz musicians translated to everyday problem solving skills and creativity.
“Sometimes, things don’t go to plan, and when that happens, we’re able to improvise around those moments. During my talk, I played an excerpt on my saxophone, and as soon as I put it down on the stand, the entire thing toppled over, but I was able to recover and continue with the rest of my talk. Not everything will always go to plan but it was still a good talk and I’m happy with my hard work paying off,” said Fu.
Camille Davis ’27 commented on her own TEDx presentation and the event as a whole. She talked about how being able to see each individual’s final product was rewarding and enjoyable.
“[My talk was about] the significance of slang and how slang functions to tie us together. I took the opportunity to talk about something I was already interested in. The process was definitely fun. I [also] think that being able to listen to everyone else’s speeches during the process and see how they all evolved in the actual thing was really fun,” said Davis.
Davis also summarized the process leading up to the event. She mentioned the large commitment of giving a TEDx talk and the challenges of memorizing and presenting such a long speech.
“There was a ton of work involved. Every Friday we had to meet, and the dress rehearsals were really long. The hardest part about it was memorizing the entire thing. Writing it in itself wasn’t that difficult because we kind of already had an idea about what we were talking about, but it definitely took a lot more to memorize it and be able to perform it well. I was also a bit nervous giving it,” said Davis.
Laerdon Kim ’24, another student presenter, talked about “Altruism and Our Kinship Crisis.” He noted how his personal experiences and interest in altruism motivated him to participate in the TEDx event.
“My TEDx presentation was about interrogating the biological basis of altruism and selfless behavior in humans, and trying to figure out, in an increasingly digital age, ways to reconnect with other people… I had never really memorized [a script] of that length before [for the presentation] and so it was really difficult to concentrate on one particular passage for long periods of time,” said Kim.
Kim continued, “I was interested [in presenting] because I think that I had some personal stories that I wanted to share, and a research interest in cognitive science and social makeup. I wanted to frame those things together in a way that would hopefully provide a call to action for others to do good for other people… I’m hoping that people felt optimistic by the end of [my talk]. I wanted people to feel that the outcome of some of the boundaries that I was talking about are in their hands.”
Camille Torres Hoven, Director of the OWHL, served as a main organizer for TEDxPhillipsAcademy. She highlighted the quality of the students involved in the project, and expressed her excitement for future TEDx events.
“We had so many good applicants, so picking the ten that we picked [was a challenge]. And then we had such a short time getting ready for the event. [The students] did amazing. I cannot believe how they pulled it together. But, if we were doing this again, I would like to build in more time, because there was no room for error [this year]… I just can’t wait to do it again next year, and I can’t wait to see what proposals we get and who is involved and how it grows into something bigger,” said Torres Hoven.
