Theme: Adaptation

The last year has given everyone an opportunity to think differently about how they respond to change and face an uncertain world.

Western Academy of Beijing
10 Lai Guang Ying Dong Road
Chaoyang District
Beijing, Beijing, 100102
China

Billy Zheng

Grade 10 student at Western Academy of Beijing

My name is Billy Zheng, and I am a Grade 10 student at the Western Academy of Beijing. I'm a filmmaker, storyteller, and above all, a perfectionist. Recently, I began to ask myself a question after my perfectionism drove me to waste 95 hours on a 10-second film clip: is perfectionism really a good thing? In my talk, I plan to share some experiences from the life of a perfectionist (who DOESN'T want to hear about how I wrote a 54,000-word novel for an assignment?) and talk about what it means to chase perfection. Let's find out : )

Clara Nievas

Grade 6 student at Western Academy of Beijing

My name is Clara, and I am in sixth grade. I have been at the Western Academy of Beijing in Beijing, China for 3 years. I am originally from Spain, and I love to travel and see new things. My top strengths are humor, gratitude, bravery, teamwork and love. In my speech, I will talk about how I have needed to adapt to big changes in my life, such as moving to China and the transition from Elementary School to Middle School. I hope you enjoy hearing about what I have learned about myself from these challenges!

Elliot Lindner

Grade 8 student at Western Academy of Beijing

My name is Elliott Lindner. I’m originally from Australia and have been at the Western Academy of Beijing in Beijing, China for four years. 4 years, along with the factor of being a staff kid, has led to me having many experiences knowing the school, including being on student voice panels. 4 years is long enough to notice certain things about the school, and that is exactly what I will be speaking about: How schools have to adapt to meet the needs of the individual, and why the individual is learning what they are.

Eric Li

Grade 7 student at Western Academy of Beijing

My name is Eric Li, and I am a Grade 7 student at the Western Academy of Beijing. I was born in China, and I am Chinese. I am a music producer, beatboxer and singer. At last year's TEDx Youth@WAB conference, I spoke about music. At this year's conference, I also spoke on the topic of music, but because of Covid-19 I chose to address not just music as a general topic, but also the adaptations made by the music industry as a result of the coronavirus pandemic.

Izzy D’Alesandro

Grade 8 student at Western Academy of Beijing

My name is Izzy D’Alesandro, and I am in Grade 8 at the Western Academy of Beijing in Beijing, China. I am originally from the United States, and my pronouns are they/them. For my speech, I will be talking about the issues of gender stereotypes and how we need to adapt and move past them. These stereotypes don’t allow people to express themselves in the way they prefer. In my TED talk, I will delve into how gender stereotypes affect people like you and me negatively, and just how common they are in society.

Jayo Johnston

Grade 7 student at Western Academy of Beijing

My name is Jayo Johnston, and I am 12 years old. I am from the United States. I enjoy the outdoors, being with my family, and being productive. When I was given the option to participate in this Tedx Youth@WAB, I was very intrigued because I thought it might be a once-in-a-lifetime experience. My speech is about “The Grey Zone of Life” and all about the mindset set which leads one to live life in this zone, the dangers and causes of living in the grey zone, and how to lift your life out of the grey zone.

Jeremy Azzopardi

Grade 8 student at Western Academy of Beijing

My name is Jeremy Azzopardi, and I am from Malta. I am in Grade 8, and this is my 11th year at the Western Academy of Beijing in Beijing, China. My talk discussed the fiscal response of governments across the world and how they have to adapt to the COVID-19 pandemic and resulting recession. I chose this topic as I am very interested in economics, and I saw various unique economic measures being implemented in response to COVID-19. My talk will try to evaluate the effectiveness of these economic policies from a social-democratic perspective. I will also explore economic measures implemented by governments in the past and interesting policy proposals currently being thrown around in political and economic circles.

Linah Reja

Grade 8 student at Western Academy of Beijing

My name is Linah Reja, and I am in Grade 8 at the Western Academy of Beijing in Beijing, China. I am originally from the United States. For my TED talk, I decided to share my feelings and thoughts as I face the prospect of leaving my home in China and what my move back to the United States will bring for me. Considering the fact that this is my ninth year in China, I specifically wanted to talk about the journey it has been for me, and how I feel about what’s coming up in a few short months. I think this relates to the theme of Adaptation because it’s all about coming to terms with the big change I’m soon going to be adapting to.

Nayeli Petrik

Grade 6 student at Western Academy of Beijing

My name is Nayeli Petrik, and I am a 12-year-old 6th grader from the United States. My family and I came to Beijing in September 2020. I have taken violin lessons for over seven years; six of those years with the same teacher. I currently take weekly online violin lessons with my teacher in the United States, as I have been in China. In my speech, I explore the many sides of my passion and share what I have learned about myself from my violin.

Stella de Wit

Grade 10 student at Western Academy of Beijing

My name is Stella de Wit, and I am a Grade 10 student at the Western Academy of Beijing in Beijing, China. Recently, in both Science and English class, my grade studied the impact of genetic biotechnology on scientific innovation. My interest in this topic, as well my interest in biology, led me to choose gene editing as my topic for today's TEDx speech. In my speech, I discuss the positive and negative implications of gene editing and see how we must advance as a society.