Theme: POWRFUL IDEAS

TEDx SST Corpus Christi Youth
May 14, 2025
House of Rock - Corpus Christi, Texas
3:00 PM
MC: Ashton Sigler(Co-Organizer)
Opening: Dr. Gosh (Event Organizer)
Speakers:
Abel Lopez - "The Magic Pill for academics"
Alimursal Ibrahimov - "The Magic Can Change Your Life"
Dr. Don Melrose - "Unfit for Life: The Shortcomings of School Physical Education"
Guitar performance

Dr. Ferhat Ozturk - "Honey: A Sweet Medicine"
Dr. Guray Taysever - "Morality and Beyond"
Dr. Veysel Avshar - "The Gift of Uncertainty"
Dance performance

Ilah Mohsenzadeh - "The Impact of Internalizing Pop Culture Media's Beauty Standards"
Phoenix Ruiz - "How to handle emotions effectively"
Certificates and take photos

House of Rock
511 Starr St
Corpus Christi, Texas, TX 78401
United States

Abel Lopez

Junior Student

With 17 years of practice, current interdisciplinary highschooler Abel Lopez became a functional human being. He doesn’t actually know what “interdisciplinary” means, but as he writes it, the reader not only realizes that this is a third-person autobiography, but that Abel is potentially linguistically incompetent.

Alimursal Ibrahimov

Financial Analyst

Ali Ibrahimov is a Financial Analyst at Texas A&M University–Corpus Christi, where he oversees budget strategy, financial reporting, and personnel funding for divisions representing over 70% of the university’s budget. He is currently pursuing a Ph.D. in Curriculum & Instruction with a focus on Instructional Design and Educational Technology, as well as a Master of Liberal Arts in Finance at Harvard University. Ali’s research centers on financial literacy, behavioral finance, and educational interventions aimed at improving financial decision-making among underrepresented communities. He is also the co-founder of a regional Financial Literacy Bootcamp designed to equip young adults in South Texas with essential personal finance skills.

Don Melrose

Professor

Dr. Don Melrose currently serves as the Interim Dean of the College of Education and Human Development and as Professor and Chair of Kinesiology and Military Science atTexas A&M University-Corpus Christi (TAMU-CC). He holds a PhD in Exercise Physiology from Southern Illinois University-Carbondale. Upon joining TAMU-CC in 1999, he helped develop the university’s Division I Athletic Program and served as its first Strength and Conditioning Coordinator. After four years, he transitioned to a full-time faculty role in Kinesiology. He has served the National Strength and Conditioning Association (NSCA) as a volunteer for the last 17 years and currently sits on the Board of Directors for the NSCA Foundation. Throughout his career, he has advised coaches, athletes, and physicians on complex clinical exercise cases.

Ferhat Ozturk

Lecturer

Dr. Ozturk has been studying honey for over 12 years. With a strong Ph.D. background in Cellular and Molecular Biology, their academic expertise is further enriched by postdoctoral research in the areas of cell signaling, wound healing, and bioinformatics. Currently, Dr. Ozturk teaches a research-based undergraduate course on the medicinal properties of honey at the University of Texas at San Antonio.

Guray Taysever

Educator

He is Ph.D. in Educational Leadership and experienced educator.

Ilah Mohsenzadeh

Junior Student

She is talented and gifted high school student with full of creativity and passion.

Phoenix Ruiz

Junior student

Phoenix Ruiz is a junior at SST College Prep High School. He is an advocate for emotions and people displaying and showing their emotions without any drawbacks, shame or guilt. He believes it is important for all as people to display their emotions with how they express themselves freely. He is, as well as many other high school students, under stress due to the expectations of life and career. Due to these factors he believes that showing emotions and learning how to cope with them are extremely important to one's own development and growth as a person and for their career.

Tristan Andersen

Student

Guitar player student.

Veysel Avsar

Economist

Dr. Veysel Avsar is Associate Dean and Professor of Economics in the College of Business at Texas A&M University–Corpus Christi. He earned his B.S. in Economics from Istanbul University and his Ph.D. from Florida International University. His academic path has included roles in the U.S., Turkey, and Australia—shaped by both global perspective and personal resilience. Dr. Avsar’s research focuses on international trade, political economy, and trade policy, with work published in several prestigious academic journals. A two-time “Professor of the Year” award winner at his university, he is widely recognized for his impactful teaching, accessible scholarship, and leadership in higher education.