By: Josh Spaman
Wayne State University
COM 2100, Feb. 8, 2018
Community impact is in facets of people’s daily lives, but many do not know what is happening. A group of Wayne State University students seeks to change this by inspiring students and locals through the sharing stories of individuals leading change.
This group belongs to an organization known as TedxWayneStateU, a community-run event focused on bringing a similar experience to that of TED talks. These talks allow speakers to engage with the audience and share ideas with topics such as game changers.
“A GAME CHANGER has new and different ideas that stand from the crowd. This person has an idea that completely changes the way a situation develops.” according to the pamphlet for the event.
The event began with an introduction given by a member of the student group. After introducing the organization and the topic for the evening, she introduced the first speaker, Annmarie Cano.
“I want to focus on having people be good to each other.” she said. Cano is a professor of psychology at Wayne State University as well as the associate dean of students for the graduate college.
Cano believes that being with others has healing properties in its own right, she said during her part. As a speaker, she focused on how individuals can assist in people’s healing more than medicine can, through a concept known as emotional validation.
Forms of this that she brought up were gratitude, recalling a time when the person was able to provide support, and listening to be aware of one’s own feelings. “With practice, we can regain this attention.” Cano said.
Another keynote speaker during the first half was Tonya Fitzpatrick, a lawyer and travel blogger. She opened her own travel agency to connect cultures through meaningful travel, Fitzpatrick said.
Fitzpatrick believes that the world is growing more divisive, with negativity becoming the core, she said during her presentation. Her travel agency was the solution to this, by assisting clients in engaging with cultures through a transformative effect. She believes that travel should consist of three aspects, transformative, inspirational, and educational effect, she said.
To conclude her presentation, Fitzpatrick shared a story from a meeting she had with other leaders in cultural connection. After hearing everyone share their programs, she felt as though her work was nothing in comparison, to which one of the people grabbed her hand and said told her she was “not just talking about travel, but world peace.” she said.
“The music must be the vehicle for connection.” said Natalie Frakes, a violinist and keynote speaker at the event.
Frakes’ change focused on using music as a “vehicle for social change”, recounting time spent in Costa Rica teaching a music class. When asked which, “¿Cual es tu canción favorita?”, her class unanimously answered ‘Libre Soy’,which is the Spanish translation of “Let It Go” from Disney’s Frozen, she said.
One concern about the event arose with information about it. “I wasn’t really expecting much from them because there wasn’t a lot of info on it,” said Jacob Jackson, “Once I got there I was pleasantly surprised.” Many attendees shared similar sentiments regarding the topic.
TEDxWayneStateU hosts events in hopes of spreading ideas to inspire change and continues to impress attendees with its topics and speakers.
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