Theme: Student Empowerment

Local, student-run event hosting speakers taken from John T. Hoggard HS student body to explore how students can make an impact at the personal, local, and global level.

Online
4035 Shipyard Blvd.
Wilmington, NC, North Carolina, 28409
United States

Anders Olsen

Student, Technology Activist

Anders Olsen is a student at John T. Hoggard High School and is concerned about the anti-intellectual and emotionally damaging properties of the internet, specifically social media. Anders considers social media to be a damaging force, especially in the lives of kids and teenagers, forcing unrealistic standards of beauty and wealth, as well as providing a gateway for the creation of extremely unhealthy parasocial relationships.

Andrew Braun

Student, Transportation and Mobility Reformer

Andrew is a student at Hoggard High School and wants to revise how cities and transportation networks are laid out. He sees the current state of the American commute, in terms of environmental impact, efficiency, and safety as a poorly structured event, and wants to endeavor to improve the process.

Celeste Powers

Student, LGBTQ Rights/Self Expression Proponent

Celeste is passionate about both LGBTQ rights, and people's ability for self-expression. Through the experiences of her brother, she explains how public education marginalizes homosexuality and makes her case for mindfulness and acceptance training to be taught in public schools.

Ian Condon

Student, Education Activist

Ian is a student and proponent for change in the education system. He argues that the youth of the United States lack agency, especially in the system charged with educating them. Ian argues that students have huge potential to initiate change in the world, but often feel constrained by the idea that "they are too young" or "don't have the experience" to make an impact, and that these doubts should be disregarded.

Jacob Jarrett

Student, Minority Rights Activist

Jacob is interested and analyzing patterns of racism in internet culture, particularly in the form of memes, and how they allow racism to passed off as a "joke."Jacob argues that this behavior is a major factor in why racism is still so prevalent in today's society and endeavors to explain why a racist joke is still racism.

Sean Hession

Conservation Proponent

Sean is a student at Hoggard High school concerned about humanity's future interactions with the environment. He is committed to highlighting the dire nature of the current ecological situation but has faith that it is possible to negate and even repair the damages caused by humanity.