This year we held the fourth installement of TEDxYouth@TWSDubai with Awe-So-Maze-Ing. The theme celebrated the incoming future and all of its surprises – both predicted and unexpected. Through this platform we vocalized the dreams meant to surface in the fullness of time, the yearnings of tomorrow and commemorate breaking free of the shackles of yesterday. The event started out with a video introducing what is Tedx and its working. It was a greater started to the function as it fueled the audience’s burning anticipation and curiosity. After this, our first Speaker Earl Andreu took the stage. He called out procrastinators in his impactful talk that redefined our perception and appraisal of talent. Next up, we had the inquisitive Ramindi Hewage with a warning of the consequences of our ill-considered actions and a moving message to the youth. That powerful talk followed another one by Hafid Ghori who enlivened the mood by sharing the significance of little things that go underappreciated and how we can change our outlook on the world by expressing gratitude. The fourth to take the spotlight was Mujtaba Iqbal who challenged our mundane views on video games while sharing the dilemma of being a teenager in his humorous style. Finally, Fatiha Hayat, engrossed everybody in a haunting poetry that painted her strong conviction. There were fillers between the talks to represent the expressionof great ideas through other mediums like a poignant violin performance and a sacred dance ofthe Sufis. The entire time was an invigorating and memorable experience – both, for the members of the audience and the speakers themselves which was evident during Networking Time when the audience got the chance to meet the orators and delve further into the topic of amazement and exchange different ideas while enjoying the refreshments. Some members were even inspired to organize their own TedX function. This event was a learning platform for everyone as it allowed people from different standpoints to come together and discuss notions – which, in essence, describes the amazement of a conversation and its ability to unite and connect people. By the end of the event, everyone had joined us in this Odyssey left as different people who had metamorphosized for the better! The journey towards the event was an adventure that had required hard work, dedication and a lot of commitment, all of which had been evident in this program's success. Everyone had done an amazing job, including the young TWS speakers and their mentors and the organizing team to put forward an event like this!

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~Sasha Zaki

Curator