In the spirit of ideas worth spreading, TEDx is a program of local, self-organized events that bring people together to share a TED-like experience. At a TEDx event, TEDTalks video and live speakers combine to spark deep discussion and connection in a small group. These local, self-organized events are branded TEDx, where x = independently organized TED event. The TED Conference provides general guidance for the TEDx program, but individual TEDx events are self-organized (subject to certain rules and regulations).

Annie Wright Schools
827 N Tacoma Ave
Tacoma, Washington, 98403
United States

Daisy Xu

High School Student

Daisy loves economics, which often helps her find rationality amid the chaos of real life. She wants to share the benefits of thinking in a rational way so that people will no longer be troubled by decisions in life. She also wants everyone to realize when and how they are using a logical fallacy in daily events. Her title is “Breaking Free from Bad Investments: Sunk Costs Shouldn't Sink You!”

Emma Adams

High School Student

Emma’s passion for true crime started in her elementary school years, when her mom gave her the nickname “Sherlock” and she discovered her first mystery podcasts. But after years exploring and diving deeper into the genre, she found there is more than what meets the eye. Here to present on the ethics of true crime consumption, is Emma Adams.

Ireland Kress

High School Student

Ireland Kress is a student passionate about the intersection of neuroscience and emotional well-being. With a focus on how habitual emotional responses can shape decision-making, she highlights the importance of mindfulness in breaking negative emotional patterns. She picked a topic that she hopes everyone can learn from and find personally helpful. She’s fascinated by how the brain works in ways we don’t fully understand and wants to focus on how we can take control of what we do understand.

Jackson Kim

High School Student

Jackson plays lots of sports and has recognized patterns of human behavior, both in himself and his peers. Some psychological influences when doing sports hinders our performance; our brains do all of that thinking for us, but when we try to consciously rationalize our every decision, we interfere with the subliminal math that comes naturally. This is what sparked his interest in the subconscious mathematical calculations that our brain does. “The Unconscious Brain: Navigating Everyday Life Through Implicit Calculations”.

Jasmine Zhao

High School Student

Jasmine specifically chose her topic on psychological disorders because it is one aspect that is closely related to all of us yet unresolved among many individuals. Thus, her speech highlights these issues that are common in our society and insights on solutions. What if we are the “outliers” in the “mainstream”?

Michael Le

High School Student

Michael chose to talk about stuttering because he has been a stutterer since he was a kid and his progress of trying to overcome his stutter can be used as a personal anecdote to inspire others to take a step at changing their bad habits and become better versions of themselves. Introducing, Michael Le’s speech, Stuttering and Motivation: How to change the “unchangeable”.

Miles Defebaugh

High school student

Miles Defebaugh explores the connections between economics and philosophy, with a focus on the importance of open-mindedness. Miles chose his topic because he observed peoples’ inability to consider and understand other perspectives, and wanted to explore how this shortcoming has influenced our world; specifically its economic systems. The Dilemma of Contrasting Perspectives.

Victor Peterson

High School Student

Victor chose this topic specifically because of his experience in the Annie Wright Dorms. He believes that it is the most unique community he has been a part of, but the one thing it made him realize - even more than he already knew - is just how similar he was with his friends that had been born and raised in countries like China and Vietnam. How he really did think and interact with the world in remarkably similar ways; how he liked the same things and told similar jokes. It made him see the political narrative surrounding countries with which we have hostile relations differently: we are all more similar than we realize, but it’s easy to forget that. His ultimate message is this: Don’t forget about the people on the other side. Last but not least, Victor Peterson.