Theme: Adolescence: A Look into the Mind

Through the unique perspective of students in the UCVTS campus, the art of learning about life's most concrete ideas culminate to a coming- of- age experience that sheds light as a modern student in society's classroom.

Union County Vocational Technical High Schools
1776 Raritan Road
Scotch Plains, New Jersey, 07076
United States

Briella Payami

2018 Governor's STEM Scholar

Briella is an exemplary junior attending the Magnet High School. She’s an optimist and a *bit* of a perfectionist, and desires to put forth her best in whatever it is that she does. Many are surprised to learn that she enjoys public speaking, because she loves the opportunity to have a voice and share her ideas. She loves exploring different avenues that allow her to pursue her love of analytic thinking and express her creativity. She is most fond of the quote by Tom Bodett which says that “In school, you're taught a lesson and then given a test. In life, you're given a test that teaches you a lesson.” She happily embraces that challenge every day.

Carl Sanciangco

UCVTS FBLA Social Media Campaign State Contender

Carl Sanciangco is a junior attending the Academy for Information Technology. Carl has a huge imagination and is not afraid to dream big. Creating content is Carl's passion and he will take any opportunity to put his creative mind to work. Tedx is an opportunity for Carl to share some of his many ideas with a bigger audience. With an interest in filmmaking as well as business Carl hopes to one day make it in the film industry not only creating films but as well as managing the business behind selling them. He hopes you'll get the pleasure of seeing one of his films in the future.

Eshita Kar

DotTech Domain UCVTS Hackathon Winner

Eshita is a quirky junior attending the Academy for Information Technology. She grew a passion for speeching and expressing her thoughts by watching TEDx talks ever since she was a child. In the future, she wishes to use her futuristic ideas to become a software engineer or a cybersecurity specialist. Besides speeching, her hobbies include reading fantasy books, spontaneous dancing, acting like a three year old, playing the piano (or attempting to, at the very least), drawing, programming buggy games, and eating chocolate. Her favorite food is (you guessed it) chocolate, and the one thing she cannot live without is (once again) chocolate. Her favorite saying (and motto) is "I'm not lazy, I'm just conserving energy" and upon her deathbed, her last words would be "Et tu Brute?"

Hannah Bondalo

Magnet Student Council Junior President

Hannah is an enthusiastic junior attending Magnet High School. Because of Tedx, she has become more confident in her goal to succeed in a career in the business field. She loves communicating with others through networking, including brightening people's day. She also loves to travel and hopes to explore all parts of the world in the future. On her free time, she likes to play the guitar or ukulele or participate in clubs around campus such as student council, FBLA, SMAC, TSA, and more. If she's not in school, you can probably find her on a soccer field or basketball court. She believes that being healthy, physically and mentally, is crucial to living a happy lifestyle.

Shivangi Patel

Best Beginner Hack UCVTS Hackathon Winner

Shivangi loves reading, running and spending time with her friends. She makes it a point to challenge the status quo, as sometimes the typical routine is not always the best. Shivangi believes that everything has to be questioned and makes it a point to ignore her flaws and her fears in the hopes that they don't keep her from achieving her goals in the future. Her favorite quote is "I have loved the stars to fondly to be fearful of the night" by Sarah Williams.

Tyler Wright

First Robotics Competition Team 1257 President

Tyler Wright is a student at Union County Magnet High School, a challenging vocational school that focuses on engineering and architecture. As programming captain of FIRST Robotics Team 1257, Tyler redesigned the training curriculum so that any student can come with no past experience and learn how to make anything they dream of. Today, he is the acting president and is working to spread STEM education across Union County. Outside of his competitive high school work, Tyler raises money for Relay For Life and volunteers with Go Baby Go, an organization that builds drive-able toy cars for disabled children. Tyler Wright lives in Winfield Park, New Jersey, with his cat Milo.

Zhizhuo Zhou

MIT LaunchX UCVTS Club President

Zhizhuo is a student who likes to use math, statistics, and computer science to solve interesting problems. However, he also explores quasi philosophical thoughts of life on his blog Upside Down Snow Globe. He likes to find "sparks" in everyday life. He believes that while life may be unfair, small moments of revelation and appreciation make life beautiful.