On Sunday, April 14 at 12 p.m., Cal Poly student and non-student attendees filled the auditorium in the Performing Arts Center (PAC) to watch the TEDx event organized by event planner Amanda Holder and Head Football Athletic Trainer at Cal Poly Prince Williams. Holder and Williams invited 11 speakers to talk on the theme of determination.
“It was definitely an opportunity I didn’t want to miss,” mechanical engineering freshman Lucas Kasper said.
Noah Solis was the first speaker of the day and he talked about moving mountains of disbelief. He discussed his heart attack, his love of climbing mountains and his long road trip. Solis focused on how people should never stop moving, choose to do hard things and not let fear stop them.
“I thought that at least right now with the stresses of schoolwork that really spoke to me,” mechanical engineering freshman Apollo Jones said regarding Solis’ talk.
After Solis, comedian Craig Shoemaker took the stage where he discussed the importance of laughter in one’s life and how it helped him deal with struggles in childhood and, later, his friend dealing with a dark time.
The third speaker, Dr. Cindy Urrutia, opened up about dealing with a difficult student named Adam. Adam went on to graduate and sent an email to Dr. Cindy Urrutia thanking her for never giving up on him.
She said she believes growth is needed for people to thrive, and applied that through a challenging job. She presented her triad of recognition which includes recognizing the potential in others, mirroring that recognition and having self-recognition.
Former Cal Poly football player Christopher White presented on the role of parents and other leaders in giving kids the tools that they need to succeed.
White said the first 18 years of life are meant to be a training space with moments of impact and pressure to strengthen mental resilience at a young age.
Holder’s husband Claude Swain talked about impactful events in his life from meeting his wife in a small airport in Fresno to being stuck on the side of the road during an ice storm. Swain had hit black ice and was in the HOV lane with his driver’s door facing the oncoming lane when a FedX truck came towards him. He survived by curling up in a ball at impact.
Swain talked about how he was determined to be a better person and wanted to live for his loved ones.
Swain then performed with his band SVYEN.
“Some of them kind of faced it more head-on and talked about really being determined and other ones took an unconventional approach to it and I thought it was really interesting,” architecture freshman Mona Nora said about the speakers’ talks.
After lunch, Dr. Victoria Bradshaw, who works in sports psychology, gave a talk on her experience in softball.
Bradshaw loved softball as a kid, but her dreams of playing in college and what she witnessed on the recruiting visit did not match the reality of being a college athlete.
She said she began to get obsessed with perfection on the field. She lost the spark of motivation and found any excuse not to go to practice or games.
Bradshaw emphasized that we need to ask why something is important to us and then again why that “why” is important.
Her fiancé, Henry Adelman, talked about the pathway to determination and building habits and discipline, using the example of his mother going on her fitness journey.
Adelman’s initial pathway was inspiration, then motivation to complete that goal and the make-or-break adversity he’d meet.
Radio host Adam Montiel later spoke to the audience about his journey after losing his job and losing determination. Montiel ultimately went into podcasting.
Montiel emphasized that when something happens in life, instead of asking, “Why me?” people should ask, “What now?”
Sifu Harinder Singh followed up with a speech about how to achieve mastery. He talked about the masks people put up, due to the need for security, control and approval which keep them from their true self.
Paul Zdunek, who worked with musical groups and symphonies and helped them from going bankrupt, preceded the keynote speaker how demons from people’s childhoods can be their defining driver.
He works to be a lifeline for people who need resources due to challenges in his childhood.
Rounding out the day was the keynote speaker, Shannon Huffman Polson, who was the first woman to fly the Apache attack helicopter, an author and founder of the Grit Institute. She talked about finding purpose in her life as a veteran.
She said that people are built for purpose and without it they get lost. She said purpose was not a destination on a map, something that could be given by someone else and purpose is not the same thing as following orders.
Purpose, she argues, is a direction that is grounded in values and moving to a place that is bigger than oneself.
“It was honestly really inspiring to listen to everyone’s stories and learn more about their lives and also relate to what their struggles were,” business freshman Arushi Gupta said.