Theme: Into, Through and Beyond

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).

Whitney High School
16800 Shoemaker Avenue
Cerritos, California, 90703
United States

Alijah Rivera

Alijah Rivera is a third year at the University of California, Santa Barbara, where he is double-majoring in Communication and Global Studies. During his time at UCSB, his search to understand his own personal identities has led to a wider interest in Asian/Pacific Islander histories and issues. This, in turn, inspired him to explore intercultural communication and enculturation through the media. Outside of the classroom, he is a boba connoisseur fluent in the nuances of memes and gif's and often finds himself emotionally invested in fictional characters.

Brianna Davis

Brianna Davis is a graduated senior from Cerritos High School. Her interests lie in abstract thinking that comes in the form of film, literature, and short essays, as well art displayed in museums. Recently, she's taken up typography, or hand lettering, as a hobby that helps her relieve stress and express her thoughts artistically through words. You can find her work at instagram.com/steadystrokes.

Dillon Sun

Dillon Sun is a junior at University High School. He is involved with Model UN, MedClub, Student Council, Psychology Club, and is president of American Cancer Society Youth at UHS. Dillon enjoys laying around with his English bulldog, skateboarding with his younger brother, uploading Youtube videos, and playing redundant iPhone games. He is interested in pursuing a career in research psychology and is actively working as a research assistant for a psychology study at UCI.

Jason Jewik

Jason Jewik is a freshman at Whitney High School who particularly enjoys working with computers and technology with the Robotics team. Jason also volunteers with the City of Cerritos, creates original animations, and is currently developing a video game. His favorite quote by Arthur C. Clarke states, "I don't pretend we have all the answers. But the questions are certainly worth thinking about."

Lauren Waites

Lauren Waites is a sophomore and spoken word poet at Cerritos High School. At a young age, she found a passion for poetry, life, and the human spirit through interactions in drum circles and everyday occurrences. She would like to thank everyone who has ever given her something to write about, and who told her, "you can". Because of you, she is doing.

Matthew Johnson

Whitney High School Physics Teacher

Matthew Johnson never thought he’d be a teacher, but a funny thing happened along the way. After some grand adventures through the realms of science and technology in academia and industry, he discovered his darling wife, Samantha, was having more fun as a teacher than he was having being a not-teacher. He decided to rekindle his intellectual romance with his first scientific love – physics - and go share it with some sparkling young minds. In the process of doing this however, as he has worked to master this new craft, he has marveled at how much more there is to teach, and how much more there is to learn, than he ever expected.

Phillip Leung

Phillip Leung is a graduated high school senior attending Oxford Academy. Despite being an idealist at heart, he thoroughly understands that sometimes, things just don’t go as planned. For him, audacious risk-taking and eternal optimism sometimes need to be balanced with logical reasoning and blunt realism.

Rohun Vora

Rohun Vora is a junior at Whitney High School. Rohun has always been a storyteller, and he manages to find many different media to tell his stories. His passion for film alongside his journalism experience led to the documentation of his journey of watching at least one movie a day in the year 2015.

Shivani Lamba

Shivani Lamba is a dancer, speaker, and food-lover currently attending University High School as a junior. With an interest in pursuing dance medicine, she choreographs, watches, teaches, and performs in several dance styles as well as competes in health science and debate competitions.

Sriya Kappagantu

Sriya Kappagantu is an ordinary seventh grader at Whitney High School who believes that she can become president of the United States. She has won several writing contests before including a national writing contest, Cerritos Library writing contests, and poetry contests. Many people have told Sriya that she would not become the president but she has used their words as further motivation to achieve her goal.

William Cheng

William Cheng is a graduated senior at Cypress High School. Off the badminton court, he follows his passion for technology, computers, and, last but not least, magic tricks. Being an athletic and a magician, William believes that it's not the difficulty of your craft that defines you, but rather your passions and ethics that mold your personality.