Connect with the Student Speakers of the TEDxBocconiU

«Never before have humans been as widely and diversely connected, yet we suffer from a profound sense of disconnection», the rationale for choosing connect as the theme of the TEDxBocconiU 2019 goes. However, the run-up to the conference is thankfully connecting people such as Aida Loggiodice and Chiara Natali, the winners of the Student Speaker Competition, who will deliver two of the talks at the 12 April event, and Amber Tseng, a member of the Speakers team of the TEDxBocconiU student organization, that is cooperating with the University in the organization of the event.

Aida is a Venezuelan of Italian origins, who was born in the US and has been living in different places such as Spain, Switzerland and Saudi Arabia. At Bocconi, she's attending the BSc in International Economics and Management. «I've a passion for public speaking and, when I read the announcement of the Student Speaker Competition on Instagram, I decided to give it a try». Her talk will be clearly linked to the connect theme, with an inventive twist: she will talk of how the devices that allow us to keep in touch with far and loved ones may also drive us away from the people closest to us – and she will argument it by reciting a poem. «I've done something similar for my high-school graduation», she says, «and I consider it more engaging than a plain talk. People can't be neutral or indifferent: they love it or they hate it».

Chiara is an Italian student from Montecatini, Tuscany, who's studying at the BSc in International Politics and Government. A singer, songwriter and musician (CLICK HERE for a video of her experimental girls band, Darmabams), she puts creativity at the very center of her life and of her TEDx talk. «With a talk on creativity, I want to bring our attention back to the things that brought us together in the first place: creativity is a tool for human connection and is nourished by human connections. When we are able to say something that's true to us, we truly reach other people and feel less alone», she says. It doesn't mean that she shuns Internet and smartphones, happy as she is to keep in touch with her bandmates and to record music remotely thanks to technological devices.

Amber is an American student at the third year of the World Bachelor in Business, a triple degree program in partnership with the University of Southern California and the Hong Kong University of Science and Technology. Last year, she had the opportunity to deliver a talk on sustainable fashion in Hong Kong and, now, she's giving something back, building on her experience. «My father used to show me the TED videos when I was a child, because some talks have the power to broaden your views and open your mind», she says. She took part in the selection of the two student speakers and now, she's acting as a coach for Chiara and one of the non-student speakers. «With TEDxBocconiU, I've had the chance to connect with incredible people in a new place, which has ultimately created an invaluable experience for me», she concludes.

CLICK HERE for information and early bird registration

Watch last year's student speakers talks