Hi everyone. So, it's pretty much a fun experience to be with TEDex again. A few weeks earlier, I was approached by April, one of the organizers of TEDex here, GSM, and she told me like this year we're going to have a really fun topic. First time in our school launch a TEDex event, we had a topic named the roots. My reaction is like so deep for teenagers. I mean it takes ages, generations to realize what roots actually mean to you, right? But after listening to all these amazing speeches from video games, f ...

You're arrogant. You're too shy. You're fragile. Too much. Too girly. Too whitewashed. Too Chinese. That's what they said to me. That's what I heard. Sometimes said it to my face. Sometimes said it behind my back. And at first I joked about it. You clearly need therapy, not me. I'm perfect. Yeah, the arrogant one. But later in the washroom, on the train, laying lying awake at night, the silence will sneak in and I will start to ask myself, wait, who am I really? That question followed me through my teenage ...

[Music] [Applause] [Music] See, I had an amazing family, incredible friends, and I didn't ever feel like anything was missing. by not knowing my birth family or my birth culture. And for as far back as I can remember, my life was full. But our stories, they always run deeper than what we can remember. Ah, over the last four years, what was once just my fun fact has now become a central part of my funky Georgian American life. something that has redefined my every move, given me a new sense of purpose, and h ...

[Music] I'm excited to introduce our next speaker. Hi Savager is a passionate educator performer and advocate for the arts. She holds a bachelor's degree in theater arts with a double emphasis in acting and costumeism as well as a minor in psychology so she can put on a show and analyze the wine art. The career has been driven by a deep belief in the transformative power of creative expression. Tonight she will take us on a journey through the importance of arts through history and life itself. Please welco ...