A few years after starting one of the first forest schools in Colorado, auditions for a TEDx event in Denver popped up on my Facebook feed. I knew I was onto an idea worth spreading so I applied. I was surprised when I became one of the top 25 finalists. However, only 15 of the 25 finalists made it up on stage and I was not one of them.
This made me realize how much I wanted to spread my idea, so I started attending several TEDx events in the Denver area which helped me hone in on my idea. I continued to apply for a couple of different TEDx events across Denver and each time helped me fine-tune my idea.
I was getting a little discouraged so I took a break from applying and then a friend sent me information for the TEDxCherryCreekCountdown event. I thought this would be the perfect event for my idea, but because I had come so close so many times only to be denied a chance to give my talk, I almost didn’t apply.
I’m so grateful that I took a chance and applied. I have been working on this talk for years and am so excited to have the opportunity to share my idea worth spreading, especially now. With schools struggling to reopen to in-person classes and climate change continuing to impact on the world, it’s time to share new innovative ideas in education.
Over the past few weeks, I have been working on fine-tuning my talk. This has been challenging because I have so many ideas that I want to share. The process of preparing my talk has also been invigorating as I have been preparing to give this talk for years and now have excellent help and guidance. I’m also excited to share the stage with many amazing people doing excellent work here in Colorado.