Living Life Through Moonshots- My Experience at Elevate 2019

Riya Mehta
9 min readSep 29, 2019

There are many different types of people in our world, but what really divides our population is the ability to believe in impossible things, the ability to believe in moonshots 🚀

Having the ability to attend a powerful conference with powerful people in our industry was one of the most eye-opening experiences I have ever had.

Not only because of famous astronaut Chris Hadfield or former First Lady Michelle Obama, but also because it allowed my 16-year-old self, even for a few days to push beyond the boundaries of my own mindset.

The key to disruption in any industry, or impacting billions, is the power of living your life through moonshots. But what does the term “moonshot" really mean? And how do you live your life always believing in the impossible?

Well, attending the Elevate tech festival this year has given me a pretty good idea, and I am about to break down what truly defines innovation, activating a moonshot mentality and the chance for innovation to be our new “normal.”

Impactful People

Yung Wu, Ceo of MaRS

Having the chance to talk to Yung was a moonshot of its own. This was probably the highlight of the tech festival. I remember standing outside of the speaker lounge waiting for him to walk by, so I could even get a moment of his time.

Turns out, I got way more than just one moment.

But it didn’t happen just like that. As a 16-year-old who probably has no business being at a leading technology conference, it was really hard to put myself out there in a world where I could as easily be ignored simply for my age.

But going back to moonshots, I believed in the possibility enough to have a conversation with Yung that I changed a losing game. He gave me some amazing insight into the world of technology for the future and the…

Riya Mehta

I am a 16 year old student who is passionate about biotechnology and international medicine. Currently an innovator at TKS & working with Sick Kids Hospital!