In the spirit of ideas worth spreading, TEDx is a program of local, self-organized events that bring people together to share a TED-like experience. At a TEDx event, TEDTalks video and live speakers combine to spark deep discussion and connection in a small group. These local, self-organized events are branded TEDx, where x = independently organized TED event. The TED Conference provides general guidance for the TEDx program, but individual TEDx events are self-organized (subject to certain rules and regulations).

Western Academy of Beijing
10 Lai Guang Ying Dong Road
Chaoyang District
Beijing, Beijing, 100102
China

Anna Cassmer Ling-Vannerus

Grade 10 Student

Hello! My name is Anna Cassmer Ling-Vannerus. I am from Sweden but have been a student at the Western Academy of Beijing for the past 8 years. A year and a half ago, I was put into a medically induced coma. Up until now, I felt I had not fully processed what had happened, and the possible trauma it may have resulted in. I want to share my story through this speech, with the means of not only helping others have insight into perspective-altering events, but to turn such a painful and uncomfortable experience into something of meaning and value.

Ava Zhou

Grade 7 Student

Hi everyone! We are Ava Zhou and Elsa Li, grade 7 students from the United States and Taiwan respectively. Recently, we discovered the concept of antifragility, which means the ability to benefit or thrive in chaos and grow even when faced with adversity. Antifragility means to not only withstand challenges but to grow from them, it means to embrace and accept stress and unpredictability. This will be our topic in our TEDx speech today. We will be discussing how to achieve a state of antifragility, what it might look like in real life, and the importance of antifragility in journeys of personal development.

Celine Pinto

Grade 10 Student

Hi! my name is Celine, and I am a grade 10 student from India. A year ago in 9th grade I was introduced to Satire in a unit in English Language and Literature. We learnt what it is, how does one use it, and the impact it can have on society. Soon enough this idea of humor as a medium of social criticism stuck with me and my growing interest in this topic led me to choose Satire and the role it plays in social criticism as the topic of my TED talk. Today, I will tell you about how criticism and humor used in a witful manner can have a great impact on a society.

Chris Liu

Grade 10 Student

Hey everyone, my name is Chris and I’m in G10 this year. I was born in the United States but have spent most of my life in Beijing, and to some extent, this relatively static and dull life of mine has made me often reluctant to take on challenges and embrace change. Over my academic years, many events (a few of which, of course, were inevitable) have made me begin to realize that change is more of a choice than we think, and through recounting these experiences, I would like to encourage more people to see change as opportunities and better employ this power to proactively shape our future.

Faye Hu

Grade 11 Student

Hi, I’m Faye Hu, and I’m a Grade 11 student from China. Recently, I’ve noticed that a lot of people my age are growing overwhelmed with the state of the world, and how it is apparently deteriorating with time. Pessimism seems to have become the new status quo; I wanted to write a speech that combats that. The main inspiration behind my topic is a Vox article which systemically debunks the argument that humanity is doomed. In my speech, I’ll be going over fatalism, the belief that all events are predetermined, and the ways in which it dooms us to a self-fufilling prophecy.

Hannah Tang

Grade 10 Student

My name is Hannah Tang, a current 10th grader at Western Academy of Beijing. I grew up loving dance, but a passion for space ignited at the beginning of eighth grade. I could be intrigued by how stars were formed, and all the physical mechanisms behind all these mysterious phenomena. But I found more magical things in questioning and asking why. As a Christian myself, I was always afraid to portray science and religion in the same image, but in my speech, I will be discussing the image of harmony and perplexity, and how science and religion are intertwined at their very core.

John Forester

Grade 10 Student

I am John Forester, I am in 10th grade and from the US. The main inspiration for my speech came from a Kurzgesagt video on nuclear power a few years ago, and since then I have done a lot of research on the subject, written an essay, and now am doing a Ted talk on why it's safe and how bad it is that it has such a terrible and undeserved reputation.

Justin Lau

Grade 10 Student

My name is Justin Lau from Hong Kong, and I am a Grade 10 student here at WAB. I have a lot of different interests, and that is what has inspired me to make this speech. I have had many interests, although I have never truly excelled at any one of them (except for some less impressive ones). Today, I would like to discuss the idea that being normal or not being the best at something is okay.

Kabir Jeet Singh

Grade 9 Student

Hi everyone, my name is Kabir and I am currently in grade 9. I have always been a keen learner of history. One thing I realized is that South Asian stories and the history of where I come from has always been less discussed in our education system. Thus, today I want to give you an introduction to a history of one of the most powerful empires in our history, the Sikh Empire.

Larry Li

Grade 11 Student

Hello there! My name is Larry Li, and I am a grade 11 student from Canada. I have long had an interest in different kinds of technology, and I also have a wide range of experience in it. Given the boundless opportunities we are currently discovering in Artificial Intelligence, I will be talking about some of the ethics associated with it, along with how we can address these issues later on in the future.

Lennox Lee

Grade 10 Student

Hey there, my name is Lennox Lee I am a 10th grade student from Los Angeles California. I have an older sister who’s always been an inspiration of mine and now that she’s graduating I would like to talk about my experiences with her and how its shaped me into who I am today. I will be diving into the dynamics of being a younger sibling, through my experiences in my life.

Mu-En (Elsa) Li

Grade 7 Student

Hi everyone! We are Ava Zhou and Elsa Li, grade 7 students from the United States and Taiwan respectively. Recently, we discovered the concept of antifragility, which means the ability to benefit or thrive in chaos and grow even when faced with adversity. Antifragility means to not only withstand challenges but to grow from them, it means to embrace and accept stress and unpredictability. This will be our topic in our TEDx speech today. We will be discussing how to achieve a state of antifragility, what it might look like in real life, and the importance of antifragility in journeys of personal development.

Ryan Zhang

Grade 9 Student

My name is Ryan Zhang and I’m a current 9th grade student from Canada. I’ve always felt intrigued by the ways thinking about philosophy can change our perspectives on modern issues. Today, I will speak about Free Will and the ideas of Determinism and Compatibalism, and open the discussion about how much choice we really have over our behaviours.

Vivi Tan

Grade 10 Student

What is love? Is romance and love the same? How do people experience romance? These are questions that scientists, philosophers and researchers alike attempted to answer. Is it a biological drive? A social pressure? An artistic expression? My name is Vivi Tan, and in this TED talk I will attempt to address opinions surrounding love and romance, while providing my own perspective. I will attempt to answer the question stated above, but at the end of the day one may realize that the answer to these questions may be no answer at all.