TEDxAmericanInternationalScholHK was once again held virtually with the event theme of Unmasked. Our 8 speakers, ranging from sixth to twelfth grade, unveiled their ideas worth spreading and voiced their true thoughts on them. All speakers had participated and worked hard throughout the second and third trimester in the TED-Ed Club to develop their talks.

Growing up, Palak would watch Bollywood movies regularly, which helped in shaping her interest in how romances depicted in these movies had an influence on their audience. She also has an interest in the growing field of sexual orientations and wanted to bridge these two interests with each other. This talk discusses the evolution of representation in Bollywood and various missteps Palak wishes would be improved on.

Growing up as a teenager, body image always impacted Valerie from enjoying the time she had with friends and family. The impact from social media and comments from others has influenced her to feel that she needed to look a certain way in order to satisfy herself and others around her, particularly during the COVID-19 pandemic. Learning to adjust during the pandemic has led her to realize how much she’s grown from seeing her body as just a reflection to something that’s worth nourishing.

When Ashlynn was seven, she placed the second tooth she lost in a paper shoebox. Although this was a peculiar action at the time, it eventually grew into a hobby of collecting keepsakes. Through her shoebox of souvenirs and trinkets, Ashlynn created a sense of permanence and self-identity. In this talk, Ashlynn tells the story of her transient upbringing and shares her shoebox of keepsakes with whomever walks her way.

When Savya was 8 years old, he got lost in the Hong Kong MTR Train Station. Unfortunately, he did not have any ways to communicate with his parents and was lost. However, he was able to find his way back home using his observational skills. Drawing from this experience, he believes overcoming the difficulties of life unaided is the only path to becoming truly independent.

We have all heard the phrase, “Everything begins with an idea.” In fact, we have more than thousands of thoughts and Ideas a day. Yashaswi is very curious and loves exploring new and creative ideas. She felt that it’s important to do something about the Ideas you feel passionate about instead of letting them pass.

Pursuing a fascination with art, Chenhey’s visits to various museums eventually led her to consider ‘unfinished’ artworks, along with what they revealed about the artist. This curiosity caused her to recognize the prevalence of incompleteness in the world and why it should be embraced.

With a deep desire to create change and friends who send her videos that are great TEDx talk openers, Sabhyata began exploring some of our worlds major issues. Every inspirational video inspired her to make a positive change, but led her to questioning how, and what it takes to get people to actually take action.

Despite frequently moving to new places as a kid, one thing remained the same for Aahan: his love for dinosaurs. Aahan’s obsession with dinosaurs was heightened after watching all three original Jurassic Park movies and learning about the theories of Henry Wu and John Hammond. Their acts of playing god and their control over the replication of an extinct species are filled with controversy.

The symbolism of a mask can be interpreted in many different ways, but for some, it means keeping things hidden, inaccessible, and isolated. This translates to the recent experience of the AIS Middle School Samba Band, as an isolated existence caused by lockdown resulted in the inaccessibility to communal music-making. And yet now, as the band comes together in more favorable circumstances, these limitations are removed and the collaborative force of drumming can be heard pulsing through the AIS campus once more.