TEDxWarwick

In Focus

Following on from the success of last year’s Student Salon, we have decided to bring it back again!

We all have moments when we lose track of our identity. We forget about our goals, disconnect from our roots, send our priorities into disarray; experiences tumble out of our hands and out of control, and we learn nothing from them.

This salon zooms in on personal stories and their interaction with these external experiences. Our speakers’ stories are those of resilience, purpose, and connection, ones that highlight the simultaneous universality and singularity of the lessons life teaches us. We have control over our experiences, and we can hold our identity back in focus.

The speakers

Andrea Arnal
Andrea Arnal
Philosophy, Politics & Economics Student
Danielle Oreoluwa Jinadu
Danielle Oreoluwa Jinadu
Law Student
Aaron Baw
Aaron Baw
Computer Science Student
Michelle Oduwole-Aigbogun
Michelle Oduwole-Aigbogun
Programme & Project Management Student

Location

Andrea Arnal
Andrea Arnal
Philosophy, Politics & Economics Student

Andrea Arnal is a passionate and energetic second year Philosophy, Politics, and Economics (PPE) student at the University of Warwick.

Her parents are from Venezuela, but she has never lived there. She holds three different citizenships and residencies; nonetheless she considers herself Venezuelan.

Andrea will discuss how the current social, political and economic crisis in her country is affecting both friends and family on a personal level. People are fleeing by the millions, to leave behind a country plagued by hunger, corruption, economic insecurity and crime. Many refer to this as a diaspora - when a country’s citizens are forced to leave their home country.

Her aim is to inspire you to not be afraid to leave everything behind in order to move forward.

Danielle Oreoluwa Jinadu
Danielle Oreoluwa Jinadu
Law Student

Danielle will be talking about The Big Black Blood Issue: Sickle Cell Anaemia, the world’s foremost and at times most lethal genetic disease.

She will be sharing her experience of this disease, her aim to start a new dialogue around the topic and the need for reform in how it is perceived and treated.

Critically she wants to bring about an awareness of the importance of blood and organ donation.

Aaron Baw
Aaron Baw
Computer Science Student

8 seconds.

On average, that’s how long it’ll take before our minds are drawn to the next exciting thing.

We live for the ‘ding’, the chime - the buzz in our pockets. Our brains are becoming conditioned to crave it. As the world rushes toward increasing levels of connectedness, the art of retreating, of taking a step back, to work with intent, is being lost.

Amidst a sea of superficiality and distraction, third year computer science student Aaron aims to present a case for the true value of focus. To help us learn faster, work better, and help us to conquer mountains - to live with greater meaning and intent, and achieve things we never thought possible.

Michelle Oduwole-Aigbogun
Michelle Oduwole-Aigbogun
Programme & Project Management Student

Michelle is a postgraduate Programme & Project Management student, at the University of Warwick. She has industry level of experience of working with people, running and managing events. She has worked with prominent companies such as Universal Music Group – Nigeria, MTV Base Africa and Reprezent Radio. Being British and of Nigerian descent, she wants to change the perception of how people see Africa. Therefore, her TED talk is about the rise and acceptance of the African culture and sound, mainly focusing on Afrobeats. She plans on doing this by further exposing these sounds and contributing to the ‘Africa To The World’ movement. Michelle plans to be one of the future pillars of Africa’s creative industry, and it is probably fair to say she is well on her way.