TEDtalk Held By ODEI To Promote Diversity

All around the globe, TEDtalks unite those interested in technology, education, science, and creativity by recruiting experienced speakers to talk about a niche subject.

These talks are typically 18 minutes or less in duration. 

This organization began in 1984 and has been growing ever since.

These talks are available to attend in person but are subsequently uploaded to the internet and have subtitles available in 100+ languages, according to ted.com.

On March 9 in the Lindbloom Student Union, the International Ambassador, James Chen of the college held one of these TEDtalks for students.

There were three speakers: Sione Sausau, Memi Yamaashit, and Venerable Prenz who shared their stories.

The first speaker was Sione Sausau, who is in his second year at the college and plans on majoring in graphic design. Sausau currently works in the Office of Diversity, Equity, and Inclusion (ODEI) and helps to promote and educate students about the importance of the values of ODEI. His topics were The InBetweener and The Change to Contemporary Culture.  The goal of his speech was to encourage people to build their own leadership skills and strive for the change to culture that will help society develop for the better. 

The second speaker was Memi Yamaashit, who shared her experiences after finishing her college education. Yamaashit worked at a couple places that she did not like but ultimately had no choice but to work there.
After graduating from college, Yamaashit was hired at Amazon in a call center department. Yamaashit disliked the job so much that she moved on and later began working as a server in a restaurant. Yamaashit is now running her own catering business. “Do what you love to do, don’t follow the social norm or whatever majority of others doing,” Yamaashit said.

The last speaker was Venerable Prenz Sa-Ngoun, a 19-year-old Cambodian-American Buddhist monk. Sa-Ngoun was born and raised in Tukwila, Wash but moved to Cambodia at the age of 13 to become a Buddhist monk.

After his time in Cambodia, Sa-Ngoun returned to Wash. and obtained his GED to continue his studies at Green River College. Now studying computer science, Venerable Prenz hopes to inspire others to follow their own path and embrace their own uniqueness.

His topic at TEDTalk was The Journey of Life. Sa-Ngoun said that after he came back to the United States, he realized that enjoys helping other people.

Sa Ngoun recounted a story about an old lady that was carrying her groceries alone, and how he was the only one to help, relating this back to his compassion for helping others.

This event, while different from the highly-produced TEDtalks put on by the TED organization itself, provided a mouthpiece for students to share their stories and inspire others.