By: Leila Gregoire, 8th Grade Student at Dickinson Middle School
At Dickinson Middle School, we got to do Student lead Ted Talks. Ted Talks focus on this slogan, “Ideas Worth Sharing”, meaning that even if someone thinks an idea is weird, it’s still important to share. Here at DMS, our teachers really focused on picking ideas that we were passionate about. Because they did this, it gave me freedom as a student.
First, we had to pick our topic, and for me that wasn’t hard. I chose running because it’s what I’m passionate about most. Next, we got to watch a bunch of Ted Talks, and the best part was that every Talk was different. It really meant that our Talks could be however we wanted. Then we did our research, and started writing. This was the easy part, I just started writing and the words came out. All my feelings about Cross Country and Track not getting enough recognition came out in my Talk.
The whole process of making these Talks was exciting and stressful. Stressful for me because I really wanted Cross Country and Track to get more recognition, and still do. I was most stressed out about people not understanding what I meant, and the presenting part. Cross Country and Track are some of the most underrated sports and it’s time for that to change. Yes they aren’t the most interesting, but that doesn’t mean that these athletes shouldn’t be getting the credit that they deserve. Even though the Talk was a bit stressful towards the presenting part it was also exciting. It was really fun to be able to put all of my ideas together into something big, alongside my classmates. Working on this project was some of the most fun I’ve had with a project before.
After we did all our writing and editing it was time to present. Presenting is nerve-racking enough but because we got to pick topics that we cared about, it made it so much easier. When it was my turn to present, all the nerves just melted away. Everything that I had to say flowed and I didn’t forget a thing. I feel as if I changed the thinking of some people’s thoughts towards running not getting enough recognition. Even though I was scared, I’m proud of myself and classmates that we got this experience to change our community.