TEDx UGA Competition

On January 29th, 2015, I had the honor to participate in the TEDx UGA Student Idea Competition. The competition is a precursor to a much larger event in March where students, alumni, and professionals compete by speaking about their "idea worth spreading." With the addition of 8 other student competitors, we shared various TED formatted speeches with an audience of about 100 people. During my talk, I had to the privilege to speak about NASA and the importance of manned space exploration.

By touching on history, personal experiences, and emotional appeal, I spoke about how NASA has affected generations on a level that's a little hard to quantify. I wanted to highlight how much NASA and manned space exploration have affected culture, innovation, the economy, and history. As NASA's budget declines, so too does the inspiration for the younger generations interested in STEM fields. Finally, I ended with my 2 most resonant effects of NASA: survival and wonder. Check out the link to my speech on YouTube, and feel free to share with your friends.

After the speeches were given, awards for Most Original, Best Delivery, and Audience Favorite were presented. The winners were as follows:

Best Delivery: Emily Hiers
Most Original: Maya Baumeister
Audience Favorite: Connor Lewis (Wooo!)

The official TEDx UGA 2015 event will be this March 27 at the Tate Grand Hall. I would love for you all join and see some other great ideas worth spreading.