By Hailey MacDonald, Editor-in-Chief
Red hues and spotlights filled Wood Auditorium during the TEDxWesternNewEnglandUniversity event on Saturday, March 20. The audience members, gifted with a bag of TEDxWNE goodies upon arrival, patiently awaited the start of the independently organized event that was coordinated completely by their peers.
Before the speakers began, Founder, Licensee, and Head Organizer of the University’s event, Caleb Moulema, gave a few remarks. He introduced the TED organization as a whole and discussed the purpose and theme of TEDxWesternNewEnglandUniversity, which is “The Bigger Picture.” The student organizers’ and speaker’s main goal is to educate and change the way that the audience thinks about the topics at hand.
The first speaker of the day was Laura Dennison, who is an alumna of the University. Dennison holds a Bachelor’s Degree in Psychology and Elementary Education and is currently enrolled at the University of Massachusetts Boston, where she is pursuing a Masters Degree in Vision Studies. Dennison is a teacher of special education at Perkins School for the Blind in Watertown, MA, and aims to hold a career as a teacher for the visually impaired.
Dennison’s TEDx Talk was entitled “No Kick No Prob: Becoming You in a World that May Say Otherwise.” By combining empathy and pedagogy, she strives to inspire others to find the ways that they do belong rather than focusing on the ways that they do not. She spoke about overcoming adversity and internal struggles when the odds seem like they are against you.
The second speaker was Danielle Remigio, a 2011 graduate of the University. Along with her Bachelor’s Degree in Psychology, she has a Master’s Degree in College Student Development & Counseling from Northeastern University. She is currently working to complete a graduate certificate in Disability Services in Higher Education Administration at Suffolk University, where she is employed.
Remigio spoke about grief — what it is, how to manage it, and why it’s okay to show it. She used the acronym CLEAN to symbolize not only how those suffering loss can cope, but also how those around them can help: Connect, Listen, Empathize, Accept, and Normalize. She stressed the fact that we don’t live and go about our lives alone, and therefore we should not have to grieve alone.
“The one grieving is the one holding the broom,” says Remigio. “They just need someone to hold the dustpan every once in a while.”
Next was Dr. Michael Jarvinen, who is an Associate Professor in the Neuroscience Department at the University. He has a Bachelor’s Degree from the University of Michigan – Flint, a Master’s degree from Purdue University, and Doctoral Degree from Dartmouth College. In particular, he teaches about neurohormones, neural development, and research methods as well as gut-brain health, neurodiversity, and science literacy.
Dr. Jarvinen’s TEDx Talk was about looking at different ways to combat mental health issues like depression and anxiety. He explained that your gut is actually connected greatly to your brain and its function. Mental health can be altered by poor gut health due to low brain-derived neurotrophic factor (BDNF) levels, and that diet and exercise play a huge role in helping the cause of these mental health issues rather than just taking away the symptoms. Medication is merely a temporary fix, whereas diet and exercise can be long term changes to help.
The first ever TEDxWNE student speaker was Nashali Pagan. She is a Law & Society major at the University and aspires to pursue a career in law. A graduate of Holyoke High School in Western Massachusetts, Pagan spent a lot of time working for her school’s restorative justice program, which sparked her interest and passion for her TEDx Talk.
Pagan spoke about how important it is to offer resources to lower income communities and schools, and also to make it a point to educate yourself and your peers about the difficulties that these individuals face. We should “stop segregating our resources to certain communities and certain families” and “stop making these opportunities so difficult to provide.” Instead, it is crucial to find ways to be inclusive to everyone and offer the same opportunities and resources all around. It is possible, and it should be done.
The second to last speaker of the day was Alex Lyman, who is an alumna of the University and is currently a Senior Copywriter in the Division for Marketing and Enrollment Management. She graduated with a Bachelor’s Degree in Communication with a concentration in Media Theory and Production and also has a Master’s Degree in Organizational Leadership.
The name of Lyman’s talk was “What We Can Learn from COVID-19: Resilience for the Pandemic and Beyond.” Despite the adversities that everyone faced during the pandemic, there was a lot that could be learned — survival techniques, leaving room for your feelings, creating the world that you want to live in, and controlling your own destiny.
“We’ve made the world one size fits all, when the one size doesn’t even fit most,” said Lyman. “COVID-19 has not only taught us who we are, but it has taught us who we can be.”
Dr. Kimberly Pesaturo, a Clinical Assistant Professor of Pharmacy, concluded the day with talking about something that left the audience uplifted. She received her Doctor of Pharmacy degree from the University of Rhode Island and completed practice and specialty residencies at Saint Joseph Health and University of Kentucky’s UK HealthCare and Children’s Hospital, all in Lexington, KY.
Dr. Pesaturo’s TEDx Talk was about Imposter Syndrome — having immense and deep feelings of self-doubt and hopelessness related to yourself, your work, and your career. She spoke about her own battles as a pharmacist who co-founded a literary magazine and said to remember always that “everyone, even the best in the world, is new when they begin.” She said that in life, you carry a basket with you that you should bring with you to everything you do. The basket contained the following items: self-doubt, life dust, grit, failure, and you.
“No one can teach you how to break out of a comfort zone,” Dr. Pesaturo stated. “We overcome it by doing it.”
At the end of the day, each and every one of the speakers, TEDxWNE lead members, and student volunteers gathered and shared so much appreciation, admiration, and pride with one another. The group came together and raised twinkies for a toast — twinkies were referenced in Dr. Jarvinen’s TED Talk, and everyone was excited to have one after their hard work was shown.
TEDxWesternNewEnglandUniversity will be a continuing tradition at the University. Be sure to follow their social media accounts @TedxWNE to stay up to date and learn how to become involved in next year’s production.
