This Years Speakers

Michael Dalmo
Title: 一生懸命のかっこよさ (Japanese talk)

Have you ever thought about what the word “cool” means? Sophomore university student, Michael Dalmo, found his definition of “cool.” During his talk, he expresses how being “cool” can be described as isshoukenmei, which means putting your all into a particular activity. Michael has experienced his ups and downs throughout college due to the pressure of having the same “cool” factor as everyone else. He will talk about how each and everyone one of you can find your true color and confidence by putting your everything into your passion.

​Eibhlin Lim
Title: Making Better Goals

Eibhlin Lim is an author, journalist, and a student at the University of Chicago. Using her experiences of living in two different cultures entirely as well as her experiences having accomplished so much at such a young age, she will be talking about how being different is not just about standing out or doing the opposite of what the common is.

Samran Shahid
Title: A Change of Heart

Samran is a student at India International School in Japan and a passionate advocate for science. In his talk, he addresses areas of critical concern and radical progress in the medical field. From his own experience of having his grandparents die from heart-disease, Samran is perturbed by the lack of support for and dismissal of modern science. Throughout his speech, analyzing obstacles humanity has hurdled, he paints his view of the future. Ultimately, he seeks to inspire listeners with an ardor for science, technology, and human potential, because you too have the power to save lives.

Grace Sun
​Title: How Homeschooling Broke my introverted Filter Bubble

Grace is a senior in high school who didn't always go to traditional brick and wall institution. She is going to be breaking the myth about a common perception about homeschooling— that it’s for the introverted! Her experiences living in Taiwan and breaking through her filter bubble are fascinating, and she challenges the audience to reflect and look deeper within themselves.

Shafi Tashdeed
Title: How Not to butcher first impressions

When it came to first impressions, Shafi used to absolutely butcher them. This took him down a rabbithole of research on the psychological part of first impressions so he could better himself. In his speech, he will share some of the ways he’s learnt to improve his first impressions on people so that people don’t make the same mistakes he made.

Kei Sato
Title: What 6 Years of “Gap Year” Taught Me

Kei is a successful entrepreneur, where he runs an intensive English tutoring academy, to help students to improve their English. However, his journey to where he is now is far from conventional. In his talk, he will be narrating his struggles living in a single-mother household, and the resilience he built over the years in order to build a life for himself. He reflects on his goals and aspirations at the time, but how the financial reality hindered him from pursuing his dreams. He hopes to get the message across that if you do everything in your power, whatever your circumstance, it is possible to overcome your difficulty.

Sofyani Tatimapula
Title: What it really means to be humble

Sofyani is a high school junior year student who is fascinated with “colors.” She is going to talk about how “color” can help one realizes the small, beautiful things around them, and how that connects with becoming a humble person, using her personal experiences. She hopes that through her speech of using creativity to connect two elements that are seemingly different together, it can inspire more people to think with no “boxes.

Kei Asano
Title: The Secret Behind Perverse (Japanese talk)

Kei is the overall winner of the 2018 Teens App Award (アプリ甲子園). In his talk, he will be talking about how he took on the world of app programming competitions at such a young age. From using “abecobe”, an app that he had created which led him to success, Kei will be guiding us to the app creating world that we have never seen before.