On TEDxCollegePark: “GET OUTside”

STEMShip
STEMShip
Sep 8, 2018 · 3 min read

This summer, STEMShip Intern Emma Chang (Oakton High School, 2019) attended the inaugural TEDxCollegePark at UMD-College Park. She shares her experience attending the event, and reflects on gun rights, gender discrimination, and the importance of events like TEDx in our community.

Event tickets were donated to STEMship by an anonymous community member in order to provide aspiring STEM researchers and scholars exposure to thought-provoking speakers and experts in topics ranging from gender policies to virtual reality.

As I walked into the TEDx event at UMD College Park I was welcomed with huge outdoor playsets, lovely banners and creative displays of art through interactive technology. The theme, get outside, was a message that resonated with me more and more as I listened to the speakers. They encouraged getting outside of your comfort zone, mentally, physically and socially through sharing their own stories and experiences.

Dr. Crifasi, an Assistant Professor and researcher at Johns Hopkins Gun Policy Research Center was candid and gave us straight and surprising facts. But she also incorporated another perspective, that of a gun owner, in fact, her own perspective as a gun owner and researcher. It was fascinating to hear these facts, like how some states require a license to cut hair, but not to carry a concealed weapon, juxtaposed with the ideals of a gun owner. Her talk definitely changed my viewpoints on guns and gun rights and made me more aware of how polarizing these issues become, when the other side is a million miles away and no bridge of compromise can be made.

One of my favorite speakers was an aerospace engineer working in the Air Force, Shelby Dziwulski. She told us her story of growing up in a comfortable home in the DC suburbs, without very many hindrances or roadblocks. Then she transitioned into telling us about becoming the outsider while in the military, one of just two females in her squadron, assigned to administrative tasks and being excluded, shamelessly, from meetings. Enduring this boy’s club meant she couldn’t live up to her full potential, being stripped of basic rights that severely harmed her ability to do her job. This basic right was to simply use the bathroom during flights. Prior to her clever solution of implementing a device that allows women to use the bathroom as men do, many female pilots and engineers had to abstain from water, essentially dehydrate themselves before lengthy flights. This dehydration has been shown to have similar and worse effects on pilots than high levels of intoxication. She battled for her squadron to provide funds so that she could do her job, eventually taking her fight to a larger scale and currently hoping to make an Air-Force wide change. Her story was impressive and uplifting, showing that if there isn’t a way, one can be created, fought for, and implemented.

I loved attending the TEDx conference and seeing these amazing people who I normally watch on Youtube tell me their stories; I got to talk to some of them and realize how genuine and, frankly, normal they were. These events ought to be accessible and frequent for people in my generation because it shows us how we can change the world, how it doesn’t take some mystical person to do something great, how impactful, lifesaving and meaningful changes can be made by anyone.

STEMShip

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STEMShip

STEMShip engages K-12 and University students in hands-on STEM learning opportunities

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