TEDx event brings students, faculty and alumni together

The second annual TEDxUWRiverFalls event took place on Saturday, Feb. 27 in the University Center ballroom. There were six speakers and two Ted Talk videos that were presented at the event, with all the speakers connected to UW-River Falls through teaching or being a current or past student. The day started off with UWRF alumnus and entrepreneur Mark Lacek talking about time and living every day to its fullest. Next was Rebekkah Hite, an undergraduate student at UWRF, who talked about how undergraduate research has changed her way of thinking and how you shouldn’t be afraid to ask questions. Before the break there was a Ted Talk video about teaching music as a language and undergraduate student at UWRF Joshua Gustafson talking about the difference between American and Japanese horror in video games and movies.

Senior undergraduate student Michael Mader started the event back up after a short break with his talk about his Hippy Feet and finding his passion through helping others. Next, UWRF lecturer and UWRF alumna Ann Lawton talked about the benefits of art therapy. Following a Ted Talk video about food engineering, the event ended with a talk from Cathy Wurzer, host of MPR’s “Morning Edition” and UWRF alumnae. Wurzer recalled memories about a story she did on a man who was terminally ill and what she learned from that experience. The day ended with a networking social in which members of the audience could talk to the speakers. There were 230 people in attendance out of the 320 who registered for the event