By Bergan O’Connell
Executive Theme Editor
Mira Costa juniors Harrison Mayesh and Hannah Zaslansky produced the second TEDx Manhattan Beach Salon, held on March 15 and titled “Blessings in Disguise,” which featured two different people’s experiences with learning to live a positive life.
Mayesh and Zaslansky chose to do their TEDx on positivity because they feel there is so much negativity and complaining on campus, and everyone can use more positivity, Zaslansky said.
“I wanted the event to focus on positivity because I feel like everybody has gone through something negative in their life, so I thought it would be beneficial to learn how we can learn from all of the negativity and transform it into something more positive,” Zaslansky said.
The first speaker of the TEDx event was Costa senior Michai Clinton. Clinton spoke about the attitude change he experienced throughout his teenage years, which he calls “Manhattan Beach moody teenager disorder,” and how it caused him to change his outlook on life.
“Positivity is something that everyone should prioritize,” Clinton said. “It is easy to become pessimistic sometimes when things don’t go your way, but it is important to not let yourself develop a negative mindset. My favorite part of the talk was the fact that I got to be honest with the audience and let them know personal details about my story without being judged. I had the opportunity to take the audience on a journey.”
photos: TEDx MB Salon at Mira Costa.
Clinton said that he has had a radical mindset change and became an optimist due to the challenges he has overcome and the relationships he formed with others, especially his parents, throughout his high school career. Clinton realized his parents have more knowledge and experience than he does, leading him to reconsider his outlook on his life and experiences, he said.
“[Through my talk], I hope I inspired the audience to become optimists,” Clinton said. “Hopefully, the audience left with a more positive mindset than before my talk.”
The event’s second speaker was a local art teacher, Judith Pickle. Pickle started off her speech by asking the audience, “Who has ever heard of Winnie the Pooh?” She continued using this analogy for the duration of the talk as she compared an ideal person to Winnie the Pooh, a character that possesses the three things that everyone desires: joy, positivity, and hope. She used to be a “negative Eeyore” but has since transformed into an “optimistic Pooh,” Pickle said.
“I chose Pickle as one of my speakers because she has been my art teacher ever since I was little, and whenever somebody asks me who inspires me or who has impacted my life, I always think of her strength and what she has gone through in her life,” Zaslansky said.
Throughout Pickle’s speech, she posed several rhetorical questions to the audience, including “Are you going to be a winner or a whiner?” She intended for these questions to spur audience members to consider their current mindsets as she has in times of hardship, Pickle said.
“It was really inspiring to see someone who has gone through so much and talk about how she has kept positive,” senior and TEDx audience member Cami Undurraga said.
Pickle’s speech included her own struggles with negativity and her ultimate decision to live a happy life. Pickle’s story of her challenging childhood inspired students in the stands, as she shared her changing perspective to view herself as a survivor instead of a victim.
“Pickle’s speech was my favorite part of the TEDx event because she turned her speech into a story,” Undurraga said. “It was inspiring to see how she has stayed positive and happy throughout life despite her childhood that entailed many challenges.”
“Before I die” TED talk that was shown at the event after the two speakers.
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