Theme: The Silver Lining

All TEDx events aim to share innovative and new ideas. TEDxYouth@WIS aims to do so in a way which promotes optimism. Among the doom-and-gloom of the world, TEDxYouth@WIS gives the stage to teaches, secondary students and primary students so that they may find their voice.

GEMS Wellington International School
Al Soufah Area
Dubai, Dubayy, Sheikh Zayad Road
United Arab Emirates

Laith Assaf and Muhammed Harris- Khan

Gaming is perhaps one of the most criticized and bashed forms of art. This talks aims to bring light to the true nature of gaming, and will present another perspective on the misunderstood concept of video games. It is imperative for people to know about the 'silver lining' of a medium that is portrayed as useless, regressive, and worthless. Otherwise, the same misconceptions and negative ideas towards gaming will continue to propagate. Haaris Khan & Laith Assaf will be discussing educational and beneficial aspects of playing games and how they apply to the real world.

Tianze Li and Tianyi Li

Anger and hardship can be problematic and sometimes overwhelming for an individual. Taking criticism from another person is equally as hard. Twin brothers, Tianze and Tianyi, explore how to deal with these emotions through working together to bring happiness and a joyful atmosphere to a period of distress through their life stories together. Their young minds explore how they learned together and the importance of looking past spiteful emotions.

Akshit Goel

Student

A gripping talk that engages the discussion of long forgotten creativity, and how it is instilled in every individual, yet isn't being made use of. Everyone has a wick to light, yet only some manage to keep their candles burning. This talk walks through the systematic structure of all our lives, and how a different choice can impact creative thinking. Whether it be attributed to persistence, or uniqueness, everyone possesses the key to creativity.

Ali Syed

Student

What's the next step for innovation? Ali Syed believes that there may be a successful solution from a surprising source: Slums.In this talk he examines specific examples in the from of the favelas in Rio, to the densely populated Dharavi Slum outside Mumbai in order to delve deeper into the heart of this interesting phenomenon with respect to three of its primary components: education, community, resilience and recycling, whilst using real life examples of the applications of slum innovation to paint an intriguing picture of beauty beyond the apparent bleakness at the surface of slum life.

Camila Valdez Zepeda

Camila Valdez Zepeda might only be a Sixth grader but she’s got a huge heart when it comes to caring for each other. Camila cracks down on one of the most unacceptable dilemmas of the 21st Century: addiction to technology. Tapping into technology may as well tap our minds out of social interaction with our friends and families. Not only does Camila highlight the negative consequences associated to binging on our devices, but she also provides a way to resolve this seemingly arduous task; she assures us that breaking our wired habits is possible, but are you up to the challenge?

Celine Charles

Student

Following the 2016 Presidential Election, the world was devastated when Hillary Clinton did not become the USA’s first Female President. Celine Charles examines how the election was a win for women though clouded by the loss of Hillary Clinton. She also looks at how after Trump’s win there has been stronger unity between women. Her key message is to never let others determine your future and fate but rather take it into your own hand to create your journey.

Charles Alastair Free

What is a hero? Batman or someone far more significant? Not all superhero’s wear a cape. Charles argues how a hero is someone who: can lift us out of a dark situation, can risk their life for the safety of others or even help an old lady cross the road. These are expressed through stories of his Grandfather, events of his life and historical figures who have impacted society in a positive way. He teaches us the importance of ordinary heroes, who can make an extraordinary impact.

Christopher Hugh Kelly

Christopher Kelly once had an accident with an opponent in a football match. Through this experience he compares the possible outcomes to what happened. Looking at the behaviour of his component and social schemas Christopher talks about the importance of a game and how the atmosphere of the game is far more important than the social image created. Using his young imagination he deduced a plan to stop bullying and enhance sportsmanship called 'Wear it and Bear it'.

Claudia Ghavami

Teacher

Claudia Ghavami in engaged and to be wed and whilst all is well, there is one thing that bugs her: changing her name. What is in a name? is a talk that attempts to begin to explore the complexity of the weight a name carries for individuals, but particularly women, in a modern society, where equality is something that we still are striving for. Claudia explores many layers of meaning in regards to a name: family and cultural significance, archaic traditions and identity. Equality and pride is the key message that Claudia shares with the audience, coming to the conclusion that a joint name is her silver lining.

Eamonn McCaughan

Teacher

‘Sadness is one of the most powerful emotions, however, there is a reason why we must experience and endure it.’ Éamonn McCaughan shares his own life experiences with the audience, identifying a Silver Lining that everyone should be aware of during the tough times in their lives. Being surrounded and supported by others is the key to healing; not remaining in isolation.

Gaura Sharma

Everyone has their fandoms, whether we publicly or privately show it. Whilst obsessions have negative connotations as they make us take time out of our lives to indulge in them. Guara Sharma is part of the Harry Potter fandom and along with others, at times, she finds it quite distracting. However, the silver lining of uniting fandoms and the positive aspects behind her Harry Potter obsession hit her like a stroke of lightning and she is here to share her thoughts on the topic.

Inseya Ali

Student

In this transient world, we are constantly mobile in order to achieve success, upward movement and the promise of better life. Perhaps sometimes without realizing, we leave parts of us behind in the places we call home. Home, is perhaps the most flexible word in the dictionary. It may be a person, a house or even a view. For me, it was an entire city. The same city that has been called 'dangerous' and 'devastated' is home for me, a place that has far too long been remembered by its destruction. In this spoken word, I hope to show how Karachi has helped me see even the smallest glints of light within the rubble.

Jana Mubaslat

Jana Mubaslat looks at a common problem; failure. It is a natural instinct for us to give up when life gets tough but Jana tells us about the incident involving paracyclist Alex Zanardi and uses that as a thread to inspire the audience to never give up. At such a young age she sees the positivity of failure and shares her thoughts on it with the audience.

Layan Abdelsalam

Student

In life many of us have given up, given up on hope. At one point in my life I did, but I found my way back. Despite whatever you may be going through, one thing will always be there and that is HOPE. I hope all of you never give up, know that there is always a new step, if you fail on one step, create a new step, then get back up to the next step. Times will get rough , but we have to go through that phase to grow, to discover who we are. My goal in life is to help as many people as I can to never give up and I guarantee you that my equation of life will help. It helped me get through the roughest stage of my life and hopefully will help you .

Luke Dow

Teacher

Growing up Mums tend to say the same thing over and over. In the case of Luke, it was about fate. Anytime something didn’t quite go to plan as a family or indeed as an individual, he would hear similar words; ‘it was just fate’ or that ‘every cloud has a silver lining.’ In this speech, Luke uses the same experiences his mum thought fate played a big role in to prove whether or not the notion really does exist within his life. Has fate actually altered his path? Was Mum right all along?

Nour Alab

Student

Failure is something that intimidates many people and the fear of it is what stops countless people from exploring their borders and achieving their fullest – which is a shame. Nour Alab, being someone who saw first-hand the power and impact that failure has on darkening the limits of the world’s population, craves to lighten the gloomy path that everyone portrays failure as. Nour’s speech on the theme of silver linings not only shows you the countless benefits of failure, but turns the once gloomy storm we know it as into a cloud of silver and idyllic light.

Nour Alab

Student

Rauf Zakohrabov

Once the TEDxYouth@WIS Team released the theme of the event, Rauf Zakohrabov went on a mission to find out what exactly a ‘Silver Lining’ was. He didn’t give up trying to understand the theme, in the same way he never gave up through his anecdotal stories he shares with the audience. From the time, he got lost at the mall and couldn’t speak a word of English to the time he tried to solve a Rubik’s Cube, Rauf has never given up and always found a silver lining.

Rhea Singh

Student

Rhea Singh chose the topic of death for her TED talk, explaining how the darkest aspect has a silver lining. Rhea discusses how the fear of death is produced in a positive way to allow humans to push themselves outside their comfort zones and explore a world they have all ways wanted to see. With reference to the concept of the bucket list and her own personal experience, she emphasizes on how we cannot waste our time on this planet as we only have a select amount of time to do what we love with the people who we love.