This talk offers a unique perspective that can help push people out their comfort zone to embrace opportunities and inspire change in their life. This is something that he believes can really help people because it helped him change his life and grow in different spaces that he never knew he could thrive in. The three-step process is risk, learn, and do. Through out lives sometimes we are scared to take risk and that can cause us to miss out on great opportunities that can change our communities. For example, he is from Detroit and he came to BGSU not even imaging the impact he could have. He applied to be a Millenium fellow with the united nations and he didn't think he would get in. He was just some kid that really believed in the power of having to take care of your mental health and he advocated for that but he didn't think he could be a part of something bigger than himself but he took the risk and applied and he learned so much about making an impact and serving a community and through that he was able to take the skills back and apply it to his community in Detroit an do programming focused on taking care of our mental health and preparing for the future with high school kids. Matt is a young entrepreneur and leader on campus who wants to inspire positive change and bridge gaps in my community. He is also a content creator who uses his platform to help others be purpose driven in their journeys. This talk was given at a TEDx event using the TED conference format but independently organized by a local community. Learn more at https://www.ted.com/tedx

Join us as we explore the paradox of building deep, meaningful connections while living a life of constant motion. In 2020, amidst a global pandemic, we stepped out of our comfort zones as newlyweds and recent college graduates to embrace a full-time nomadic lifestyle in our self-built van. Van lfe offered breathtaking scenery and the flexibility of life on the road. With every destination, we encountered profound stories of people deeply connected to the spaces they call home. One such encounter was with a young Navajo woman in Arizona. While waiting for our takeout order of Navajo tacos at her family’s restaurant, we asked about her life. She proudly shared her connection to the Navajo Nation and her deep connections to her home. She also shared her dream of visiting the Grand Canyon, a mere 150-miles away. This moment prompted us to reflect on our privilege and the ease with which we traveled to places others only dream of. Inspired by her pride and connection to place, we began to slow down, immersing ourselves more deeply in the places we visited and the stories of the people we met. Her deep rootedness in one place embodied the sense of belonging we were seeking through our nomadic journey. In this talk, we share the lessons we’ve learned from van life, including three transformative stories like the one above that taught us what it means to form community and belong. We conclude with reflections on how to root down and create meaningful connections in a world always in motion. Adam and Madi are both two-time BGSU graduates, who both currently work full-time at Bowling Green State University. Adam and Madi live in the Bowling Green area with their two dogs Acadia and Olympia. Their academic backgrounds include Sociology, History, Environmental Sciences, and Leadership. They enjoy traveling, hiking, yoga, meditation, ultra-marathon running, and spending time outdoors. This talk was given at a TEDx event using the TED conference format but independently organized by a local community. Learn more at https://www.ted.com/tedx

No parent thinks it will ever happen to them. No one thinks they’ll host their son’s high school graduation party and lie about how excited they are for their kid’s next step – the kid who overdosed just a month before on a mammoth morphine pill and may not even go to college. No one thinks their baby will one day be hooked on heroin or fentanyl. But the unthinkable happened to me and my family. I watched my sunny, smart-as-a-whip second-born become a sullen, moody drug user that I had no idea what to do with. I want to share my story (with my son’s permission) – the ups and downs, the anguish and hope, all that I’ve learned through the long and painful process of supporting him through two stints in rehab and all that came in between. When our journey first started, we kept it to ourselves. I barely understood what was going on. How could I trust others to understand? But I found at some point that I couldn’t hold it in any longer. I started being more open about what we were going through, and the more I shared, the more others opened up about their own struggles. Addiction is often stigmatized, misunderstood and politicized. I want to put a human face to addiction and share how it's affected one family, my family. Writer and creator. Traveler and life-long learner. Wife and mother of four (five, if you count the dog I said I’d never get). Marketing content strategist on BGSU’s marketing team. I was raised in Sylvania, Ohio, the fourth of five girls. Armed with a journalism degree from Northwestern University, I’ve worked at an innovative publishing company in Tennessee, freelanced for newspapers and magazines and eventually found my happy place in higher ed. If I ever get a tattoo, it will be of the two words I try to live by – wonder and wander. This talk was given at a TEDx event using the TED conference format but independently organized by a local community. Learn more at https://www.ted.com/tedx

In our daily lives, we are driven to compare ourselves with others and seek respect, influence, and power. This often involves positioning ourselves in relation to others. Additionally, we seek connection through the expression of affection, care, and love, aiming to find a sense of belonging and security. Sometimes, we utilize our status to assist others, whether through teaching, counseling, or parenting. The notions of positioning and connection are omnipresent in our lives. Consider the walnut tree, a magnificent example of nature with its robust and vibrant foliage. However, the substances emitted by walnut trees are toxic to other plants, creating an inhospitable environment around them. In contrast, companion planting, the practice of planting certain vegetables and plants near each other, can be mutually beneficial. For instance, marigolds are excellent companions, offering protection to a wide variety of plants against pests and harmful weeds. Power is often linked to high status, but it can also be interpreted as the ability to influence others. Conversely, our innate desire to connect with others, known as linking, is essential for building meaningful and healthy relationships. Love could be seen as an intensified form of connection. Saadia is a 3rd-year Ph.D. student at Bowling Green State University, She studies critical interpersonal and family communication in the School of Media & Communication. This talk was given at a TEDx event using the TED conference format but independently organized by a local community. Learn more at https://www.ted.com/tedx

The idea centers around the fact that licensed practitioners are governed by administrative laws as well as various codes of ethics. This is ingrained in all practitioners through their respective trainings. However, the critical element of kindness towards those we are helping is not emphasized enough. Surely, competent and ethical practitioners are in the work force, but what will make a practitioner truly effective is a combination of competence with a delivery in kindness. Being a healthcare professional is stressful due to various demands, however, the simply act of kindness can not only be more empathetic to the stress that the person served is going through, but will allow for greater compliance, motivation as well as effective engagement. This will work out in the long run more for the person served, as well as more satisfaction from the practitioner in performing their duties. This will result in a treatment alliance in which will ultimately allow: a) the person served to continue to receive the help that is needed while feeling respected b) will allow the practitioner to be able to have a greater satisfaction from having more positive interactions with persons served. Perhaps the content of the meeting is stressful, however, exhibiting kindness will allow for a better process for practitioner as well as person served. Kindness is often forgotten, and is often a great grounding method for practitioners to understand when their satisfaction with duties performed are lessening. Licensed Clinical Social Worker / psychotherapist in over 40 US states. Twenty year career working with individuals, couples and families who work to overcome mental health issues and challenges. He has worked in large community practices, private practice as both a direct service clinician, administrator, quality assurance director as well as clinical director. He has a passion for being able to keep individuals engaged in meaningful treatment to help them to achieve their goals. In process of earning an MBA with expected graduation date Summer 2025. Will be pursuing a Doctorate in Business administration Fall 2025. This talk was given at a TEDx event using the TED conference format but independently organized by a local community. Learn more at https://www.ted.com/tedx

The effort to normalize English and marginalize non-English languages in the U.S. is referred to as the monolingual bias. This practice affects school cultures as a whole, but it is not found within a vacuum. Rather, it manifested from a wider national bias to support the assimilation of reachable consumers through language solidarity. This attitude in America is an isolated circumstance, since most of the world is already bilingual, and continues to affect schools despite inconsistent efforts to alleviate its presence. Negative stigmas toward other languages arise from the promotion of the idea that one language is truly useful, which causes ESL programs to be seen more as a remedial service and not as a benefit to schools. ESL teachers can directly contribute to the goal of inclusiveness and student value by making specific alterations to address long held problems found in common ESL teaching models: pullout, inclusion, and team-teaching. Charity Anderson pursued a Ph.D. from BGSU, and graduated with an MA, BA, BS, AA, and AS from other universities. She currently instructs women's studies and literature courses at BGSU. She is a licensed teacher and taught in Ohio and Michigan grade schools for 14 years before becoming a college instructor. She is the mother of four children and is a member of the disabled community. Her research is focused on disability rhetoric and marginalized voices. She has presented research at multiple universities and professional organization conferences, and she was awarded several accolades for her writing. This talk was given at a TEDx event using the TED conference format but independently organized by a local community. Learn more at https://www.ted.com/tedx