Response to Ric Elias's TED talk

Today I watched a very interesting TED talk by Ric Elias titled Ric Elias: 3 Things I learned While My Place Crashed. Ric Elias was one of the passengers on the infamous Flight 1549, the plane that crash-landed in the Hudson River in New York in January 2009. He has a front row seat and he remembers distinctly when pilot Chesley B. Sullenberger came on the loud speaker and said three clear, emotionless words, “brace for impact”. This is when Ric realized three things. He learned that it all changes in an instant, that he had one regret, and that he had only one wish in life. After that crash-landing Ric said he no longer wants to postpone anything in life. He says that “We have this bucket list, and all the people I wanted to reach out to but I didn’t, fences I wanted to mend, experiences I wanted to have but never did.” That urgency and purpose has changed his life. This teaches me as a young adult to not postpone anything, to live it up while I can and to never turn down a good opportunity because I think I will be able to do it later in life. Sometimes fate steps in and we have less time on this world than we originally thought we would, less time than we thought we were entitled to; so we as human beings cannot continue to put things off. Regardless of whether you have as much time as planned, if you put off every good opportunity, there still will not be enough time to get any of these things done, because it would literally be a lifetime’s worth of opportunity.

Ric said that the second thing he learned was that he had one regret. While living his life, he allowed his ego to get in. Rick says as the plane was going down he realizes that he regretted the time he wasted in things that did not matter with people that matter. After the crash he decided to eliminate negative energy from his life, and that he is no longer trying to be right, that instead he has chosen to be happy. If everyone could live by this same motto, the world would be a much better place. Everyone is so stuck on the fact that they are right that it creates an abundant number of problems, fights, and issues. Whereas if we all realize that sometimes we are wrong and give up the idea that we are always right, we could be a lot happier. In addition eliminating all the negative energy from life would create fewer problems. During my freshman year I had a friend who brought so much drama with her that it was overwhelming. At the time I couldn’t see this, but after her drama became too much for me and I was no longer good enough for her, I decided that I was done trying to hard to please her and fix the problems that she had created. In other words, I eliminated that negative energy. Since then my life has improved, and I feel extremely relieved to be done with that. If we all could live our lives in this same way, we could all be happier, and in turn not only would we have to deal with les negative energy, it might even start to disappear.

The last recognition that Ric had during the 15 seconds before impact was that dying wasn’t scary because in reality dying is what we have been preparing ourselves for our entire life. But at the same time, while not scary, Ric says that it was really sad because he loved his life, and he didn’t want to leave it. This is when he came to what he says was his most important realization, he realized that he only wished for one thing, he only wished that he could see his kids grow up, that the only thing that matters in his life is being a good dad. While I can’t empathize with this, I do sympathize. While I don’t know what it’s like to want to be the best parent I can be, I do know that I try to be the best child I can be. I also know how hard it is to achieve this, and I imagine that it is the same difficulty for a parent. As long as my dad can look back on raising me, and think to himself that he thinks he did the best job he could have done then I will be happy. No parent is perfect, but as long that they try their hardest to be the best they can be, that is all their child can want and need.

Ric says that he was given two gifts that day, he says he was given the miracle of not dying, and the gift of being able to see into the future and come back and live differently. While I cannot achieve this, Ric’s TED talk provides very good insight and advice on how I can live differently. I don’t want to get to the end of my life, whenever that may be and know that I didn’t achieve everything that I wanted to, or have a lifetime’s worth of opportunities piled up in front of me. I don’t want to regret the time I wasted in things that did not matter with people that matter. I want to know that I gave the best of myself to the important people who mattered to me, and didn’t waste my time bantering, fighting, and hurting my relationships with them with petty problems that weren’t worth either of our times. I also want to know that I was the best child and if possible mother that I could have been. In any aspect of life, I want to look back and know that I tried my hardest and gave it everything I had, and I was the best that I could be. When the pilot came on the loudspeaker and said those three words, “brace for impact” it applied both literally and figuratively. We should live our lives bracing for impact or in other words, preparing for the end and making sure that when “impact” comes, we don’t look back and think we didn’t do it right.

Response to TED talk #7

Today I watched another TED talk by Phyllis Rodriguez and Aisha el-Wafi titled 9/11 healing: The mothers who found forgiveness, friendship. In the TED talk the two women told the story of how that had met and developed t heir unusual friendship. Phyllis Rodriguez’s son was in the World Trade Center on the morning of 9/11, but they did not know his fate until 36 hours later. She reflects on that time and explains that through that shock and explosion, she and her husband and their family, weren’t vengeful. Aisha El-Wafi’s son Zacarias Moussaoui was indicted on six counts of conspiracy to commit terrorism, US government called for a death penalty against him if convicted. When her son was indicted, Aisha came over to the united states, and Phyllis thought to herself what a brave woman Aisha must be, and how someday, she wants to meet her, but she knew that she wasn’t yet strong enough. Phyllis and her husband then spoke out against the execution of Zacarias publicly. Through that event and through human rights groups, Aisha and Phyllis finally got to meet. Phyllis’s heart went out to Aisha because When people learned that Phyllis’s son had died, she got instant sympathy, but when people learned of what Aisha had been convicted of, she didn’t get that same sympathy, and Phyllis know that both woman had suffered equally.
Aisha then told shared her back story with the audience, she was forced to be married at 14, lost a child at 15, lost another child at 16, so when she heard about Zacarias, it was too much for her. What was even more difficult was that unlike Phyllis who knew where her son was, Aisha had know idea if her son was alive, if he was tortured, she didn’t know where he was, or what had happened to him. Aisha wants to share her story so that her suffering is something positive for women. She says “ for all the women and mothers that give life, we can give back, we can change, its up to us women, because we are women, because we love our children. We must be hand in hand and d something together, its not against women, its for us and for our children. ” This is why Aisha speaks out against violence and terrorism, and also she goes to schools to talk to you Muslim girl so that they don’t accept to be married against her will. She says that if she can save one of the young girls, and have them avoid getting married young against there will in a forced marriage so that they don’t suffer like she did, than that is a good thing. After hearing Aisha’s story, Phyllis was amazed that a women could be so generous under the present circumstances and what was being done to her son, and in addition to the fact that she had already been through so much already.
Aisha had asked the human rights organization to be put in touch with the families of the victims, and when the families met with her, Aisha could tell that Phyllis was the only mother in the group, she says “I could see in her eyes that she was a mother just like me.” This was also a meeting for all of the families that had lost someone in the 9/11 attack. They all sat in a circle with support from people who were experienced in that type of reconciliation and shared their stories. They were all nervous because the families wanted to know why Aisha wanted to meet them, and Aisha wanted to know why did they want to meet her. This is when Aisha spoke, and she said Aisha spoke first and said “I don’t know if my son is guilty or innocent, but I want to tell you how sorry I am for what happened to your families. I know what it is to suffer, and I feel that if there is a crime that the person should be tried fairly and punished.” This served as almost an ice breaker for the group, and after they shared their stories they realized that they all connected as human beings, who felt as if they had known each other forever. Aisha ended that speech saying that she “we have to try to know other people. You have to be generous in your heart, in your mind, you must be tolerant. You have to fight against violence, and I hope that someday we will all live together in peace, and respect each other.”
The speaking style during the TED talk was a lot different from any of the other styles in the previous TED talks. This talk was more of sharing a story as apposed to introducing a new product, or introducing a new concept or way of thinking. Their TED talk seemed more intimate, and seeing both of them start crying at the end was quite a powerful experience. Both of those women lost so much in that 9/11 attack, and it was very astonishing that those two people could become friends. They were very accurate when they described their friendship as unusual. The two women don’t even speak the same language, yet they share a bond that is so strong it knows no language barriers.

Response to Dave Egger's TED talk

After watching Dave Egger’s TED talk titled “Dave Eggers' wish: Once Upon a School” I realize the importance of one on one attention, and how critical it is for students. Studies show that a student who has 35 to 40 hours a year of one on one attention can achieve a grade level higher. In his TED talk Dave Eggers tells the story of his shop/ tutor center 826 Valencia and how it has expanded across the country. Dave talks about how he had grown up around teachers and how they are the most hardworking and constantly inspiring people he knows. These teachers however were having trouble with students that were having difficulty keeping up at grade level in writing and reading in particular. Lots of these kids had learning disabilities, in households where English is not the primary language and were in schools were underfunded. All of these odds were stacked against them and were proving to be something difficult for them to overcome. The teachers expressed the need for more bodies, more people to help, who could provide one on one attention, and more expertise from people who have experience in the English area. Students in today’s schooling cannot get one hour of free time a week, because there just isn’t enough time in the week. Dave then thought of the massive group of people he knew, writers, editors, journalists, graduate students, and assistant professors who had flexible hours and an interest in the English word. People who in other words has the time and interest, but had no place to bring their communities together.

So when Dave Eggers rented out a building for his work and company, a place where writers came in everyday for their jobs, he decided to create the place that would bring the two communities together. The idea was that they would be working on whatever they were working on for their business, and then at 2:30 the kids would come in and the workers would put down their work for a later time to help the students and tutor them in English. However, the space was zoned for retail meaning the space had to be used to sell something. After refurnishing the space they the owners received several comments stating that the room looked like the hull of a ship, thus implementing the idea to spell supplies for the average buccaneer. So they sold pirate supplies like planks, peg legs, eye patch display, and supplies to prevent scurvy. Right behind the pirate shop was the tutoring center, and behind that the publishing studio where all of the writers worked. So Dave and his coworkers and volunteers set up everything, and waited for weeks for people to come in for help, but no one came. After Dave hired his executive director, who made connections with teachers, parents, and students, the place became packed.

The basis for the program was one on one attention. And what made it so different from other tutoring programs was that there was no stigma, because it wasn’t for kids who needed extra help because they couldn’t keep up in school; it was for kids who wanted to enhance their writing, and it was a fun place to come and do so. It also theoretically created a more positive, happy community because kids got their homework done by 5:30 and got to enjoy the rest of the evening with their families, they got to play and have fun enjoying other hobbies which created happy families as well as a happy community. Eventually the program gathered 1400 volunteers on their roster. The program began bringing in classes for field trips, and in the shop they wrote a book in a day. Volunteers started to come into schools so students who couldn’t/didn’t come into the shop, could still have this help. Teachers direct volunteers what they could do to help, and eventually one of the schools gave the program a classroom, which they staffed all day and served all 529 students in the middle school. The program had grown large, and started to earn some recognition, that is when Isabelle Eynde contacted the program and told them to assign a book with high school students about how to achieve peace in a violent book, and she would publish and sponsor book which would be available all over the world on Amazon and in shops around the bay area. This book was titled “Waiting To Be Heard” and led to a series of book, the second book was titled “I Might Get Somewhere” which was sponsored by Amy Tan. When writing the books, the kids worked harder than Dave had ever seen, leading him to the conclusion that kids will work harder than they ever have before if they know that their writing is going to be permanent, if it will be on a shelf, know that no one can diminish what they’ve thought and said, that their words and thoughts have been honored and paid attention too. This led to a series of shops that were very similar to that of 826 Valencia including the Brooklyn superhero supply, The Echo Park Time Travel Mart, Word St., Ink Spot, Youth Speaks, Studio St. Louis, Austin Bat Cave, and Fighting Words. These shops enforce Dave Eggers wish “I wish that you – you personally and every creative individual and organization you know – will find a way to directly engage with a public school in your area and that you’ll then tell the story of how you got involved, so that within a year we have 1,00 examples of transformative partnerships”. These same words are found on the side “Once Upon a School” which is the “mission site” for the program.

As far as Dave Egger’s speaking style goes, his whole presentation is a story. This is different from the others because while the precious TED talks had stories in them, the stories did not consume the entire presentation like it did with Dave’s. This style is both beneficial and negative because while the story seemed to drag on and just keep going, it was a good way to keep viewer’s attention. Dave stated in the beginning that he was nervous and it seemed to show a lot throughout his presentation. Dave spoke with a mumble, especially in the beginning of the talk, as well as the fact that he stuttered and fumbled over his words quite a lot, he was also very interactive with his hands, but almost in a fidgety nervous way which made me as a view a little uncomfortable. However, Dave seemed very passionate about what he was speaking about which makes the talk more interesting.

As I listened to Dave Egger list off the benefits of one on one attention, devotion to the student’s work, and boundless optimism and possibility of creativity and ideas, I really wished that those resources had been available to me as a child growing up. Knowing that I had a place outside of school and outside of the home where I could go to for writing help, where I knew that there would be someone who could sit down with me and help me and not have to be helping 30 others students and could only devote 2 minutes of their time to me before they were off to the next student would be very beneficial. Even today I wish there was a place like that for me to go. This seems very beneficial because I would feel more confident about my work, and it would take away some of the stress that comes with writing a paper. It also seems like programs like 826 Valencia really emphasizes the importance of creativity, which is something that I miss from elementary school. If I had a place like 826 Valencia, it would encourage me to write more outside of school. In high school, every paper you write is non-fiction, and typically a reflection of some sort. But being able to actually write a story like you could in elementary school, would definitely help me to find more passion in my writing, something that for the most part, I struggle to find.

If the school could provide some sort of a program like 826 Valencia, it would be beneficial, but not as beneficial as an outside source would be. Although hard to explain, there is a difference between a school backed writing lab which helps with certain projects and has other student’s projects to relate to, and wouldn’t help with many extra curricular writing, and a place that focuses on your writing and can’t compare to John’s essay that was so much better than your essay. The ladder option would allow the volunteer to be creative with the student and expand and allow out of the box thinking which would be beneficial because it creates a different atmosphere than an in school program.