TEDxGCU event ties up loose threads

Photos by Ralph Freso / Slideshow

Loose threads can be an annoyance, whether it’s a snag on a favorite sweater or on the button of a blouse.

But in the case of TEDxGCU on Friday night at Global Credit Union Arena, “Loose Threads” was a theme that enabled the eight featured speakers to share how they transformed a problem or unfinished business into a greater purpose or a worthy change.

Michael Vilardo, co-founder and CEO of Subject.com, a video-based learning platform, spoke about Netflix's success and the panic over the brief TikTok shutdown in January while discussing “Digital Learning is the Future.”

“Even if you hate TikTok, I promise you one thing – middle to high school students absolutely love it.”

The loose thread, however, is that our educational system is in the Stone Age and needs to be digitized to catch up to the rest of the world.

“I think the educational system is the most important part of our society,” Vilardo said.

In illustrating the video's impact, Vilardo pointed to the effects of television during the pandemic, with shows such as “The Last Dance” and “Tiger King” engaging young people while he was relegated to Zoom classes in his pursuit of an MBA at UCLA.

“Storytelling is the best way to be able to provide incredible teaching and learning,” said Vilardo, who said much of today’s school system is outdated.

Eighty-five percent of students prefer watching videos over personal lectures, said Vilardo, who envisions Subject.com as “the Netflix of education.”

He added that teachers are heroes and we have to support them with tools, such as video teaching, that can save them up to 500 hours a year.

TEDxGCU, unlike other TEDx events, is operated, organized and executed by GCU students. President Benji Gomez said the evening's theme was a team decision.

“We wanted a theme that all speakers could draw different interpretations on, relating to their own individual experiences,” Gomez said. “I think we've done that and accomplished that with each speaker.

“They've all weaved in their own story and how that relates to loose threads differently. And I'm super-duper proud to say that they're all different.”

As an example, GCU student Peyton Christenson stoked emotions among an engaged audience by speaking passionately about “The Lost Art of Letter Writing.”

The tenets of Christenson’s speech:

Christenson recalled countless times when a handwritten letter brought her joy. She said, as a 7-year-old, she exchanged correspondence with a friend in Rwanda and feels “peace and fulfilment” while connecting with others.

However, the “reality is digital communication is here to stay.”

Trevor Cowley, a transformational speaker, author and entrepreneur, challenged the audience to start a new thread.

“If you keep following the same thread, you will follow the same results,” Cowley said during “Becoming Remarkable: Weaving a New Life.”

Cowley said he grew up poor, made terrible life choices that nearly cost him his life, and rebounded with a job that brought him wealth but not fulfillment.

He realized, “it’s action that changes identity,” and began to work out twice a day for 1,000 days, then ran 10 miles a day, and later, a half marathon a day.

“Create something bold, something extraordinary,” said Cowley, adding, “What are you willing to sacrifice?”

Madison Paige recalled being consumed with her family’s resort business in the Midwest since she was 14, eventually working 80-hour weeks at 20 years old and eschewing food and sleep.

“I thought that’s what it took to build a successful business,” Paige said while talking about “Why Entrepreneurs Burn Out and How to Escape It.”

A business partner, however, cut the family out of everything, and Paige realized what she lost while being consumed with the company.

She moved to Washington state with her fiancé, found balance in her life and spoke of the freeform lifestyle:

“You are the loose thread to change the narrative,” Paige said.

“If a sweater has a loose thread (and) it’s ignored, it will unravel and ruin the sweater. If thread is addressed, it will be made right. Don’t ignore the loose threads in your life. It’s what makes you whole and complete.”

Brian Gubernick, a real estate entrepreneur, incorporated moments with family members in “Time is Finite.”

“Either you can look at math and feel bad, have regret and wish you could go back in time, or do something about it,” said Gubernick, who bought Arizona Diamondbacks season tickets so he can attend games with his father, as well as hiring his mother for his company so he can spend more time with her.

In recalling the top five regrets of the dying, Gubernick shared his: “I wish I would have led a life true to myself.”

“I refuse to have that regret,” Gubernick said. “I challenge everyone to do the same. Now call your mom.”

Life looked promising for writer/communications strategist Nicole Christie six years ago when she was ready to move from Seattle to San Diego to join her husband, who lived in Montreal.

In “Transmitting Trauma to Reclaim Yourself and Your Purpose,” Christie recognized her marriage was in shambles because of a spouse whose volatility increased during her illnesses.

She filed for divorce, but her problems persisted as a pipe burst and destroyed her house.

“A voice said, ‘You have had enough chances to choose yourself.’"

Christie learned, “Trauma isn’t the abuse of our downfall but the key to our rise.”

Her podcast helps those who have experienced different levels of trauma, acknowledging painful truths about their life before reclaiming themselves.

“What happens when we don’t transmute trauma? You live the same life,” Christie said. “It leaves loose threads.

“… When you let trauma level you, you let loose threads tighten you.”

Lydia Walker, a member of the Fellowship of Christian Athletes, challenged the audience to consider a better way of living than the way they live today in “Be Fully Known, Be Fully Loved.”

Walker experienced a traumatic experience as an 18-year-old freshman that weighted her down and cast a cloud of insecurity over her. She felt free once she told those closest to her.

“I’m proposing not everything has to be known,” Walker said. “Every thread of your life has purpose to shape you into a student, athlete.

Dr. Colleen Kelley recalled her excitement as a seventh grader going home early and putting a jacket over her head after getting off the bus to walk to her home.

She didn’t realize the magnitude of an early recess until she arrived home, when the television news reported that the Three Mile Island nuclear power plant experienced a leak that could make her family and neighbors vulnerable.

“It motivated me to become a chemistry professor,” Kelley said during “Molecular Literacy for ages 8 to 108.”

But later, to Kelley’s chagrin, she learned that studies showed that 50% of students either fail or drop chemistry courses.

Why could a child read at 8 but remain molecularly illiterate when he or she enrolled in college?

She applied youth reading tools to chemistry, making it fun with catchy tunes, such as “Sweet Calcium” replacing the Neil Diamond hit “Sweet Caroline.”

“Spinach never tasted so good,” Kelley said.

GCU News senior writer Mark Gonzales can be reached at Mark.Gonzales@gcu.edu

***

Related content:

GCU News: TEDxGCU members set tone for high school students

GCU News: Contentment, communication, confidence highlight TEDxGCU event