Lakeland, it’s Time 2 Think.
The Bonnyville Boys and Girls Club hosted Bonnyville’s first TEDx Talk on Tuesday, Oct. 23 at the Centennial Centre.
Students from the area were invited to two sessions featuring speakers from all over the region with a variety of backgrounds.
“It went amazing, even better than I thought,” recalled executive director of the Boys and Girls Club Patti Cowden. “The place was packed, and I’ve talked to so many kids and they’re so excited... I thought it was a great success, and I’m so thankful for everyone who came together.”
Dr. Brosseau student Tatum Rachynski, 13, took away some important lessons from the presentations.
“I think that it’s really cool how they talked about following your gut feeling, and choosing what to do just by if you feel like it’s the thing to do and not doubting yourself,” she detailed.
Cowden hoped to inspire students through the stories they heard, while encouraging them to go after their own dreams.
“I picked all the people that are successful, and not just successful, but motivating to the kids and live an interesting life. That’s what my main goal is, and I like that most of these guys are self-starters and self-finishers. A lot of people like to start... They start from the ground up,” she noted.
The theme, ‘Time 2 Think’ was what made Cowden select the speakers she did.
“I want our students to start thinking about their future, about what they can do for their future... I think it’s good to pause for a little bit from a classroom, to listen to all the success of people and think about themselves. I really hope they go back and think about their future and what they can do,” she expressed.
Among the speakers were Drew Shalka and Travis Topylki, members of local band FKB. They wanted to share how they got started.
“We wanted to come back and talk about how we took what we were doing in town and developed it when we were young, and brought it to all over North America,” Shalka said.
Topylki hoped their time on stage encouraged attendees to follow their dreams, and not let where they’re from hold them back.
The keynote speaker of the event was Olympic athlete and Calgary-native Barrett Martineau, who competed in the skeleton at the 2018 Pyeongchang games. His story is about refusing to give up on your dream.
“I hope that people realize there isn’t restraints on their goals. If they have a goal, it doesn’t matter how big it is, they can make it happen. They just need to do a few things along the way to make it happen,” Martineau stressed.
During his speech, Martineau encouraged everyone to strive for their goals and to learn from their mistakes.
“Fail big and fail often, because only through failure can you truly learn,” he exclaimed, adding that he wouldn’t have competed in the Olympics if he hadn’t used his failures to propel himself to achieve his goals.
