TedX Xavier School 2014: #defineX

I have already watched a couple of TED videos prior to even knowing that local organizers have already brought it to the Philippines. That was two years ago when I was made aware of as one friend who is an x-blogger was one of the speakers. I was dying to watch live at that time but I didn't get any slot or invites. Then came the unexpected surprise this year when a fellow travel blogger who I haven't met in person sent a message inviting me as his personal guest at TedX Xavier School where he was one of the speakers. Cool!

What is TEDx?

In the spirit of ideas worth spreading, TED has created a program called TEDx. TEDx is a program of local, self-organized events that bring people together to share a TED-like experience.

Megan Young at TedX Xavier School 2015

The event is called TEDxXavierSchool, where x = independently organized TED event. Xavier School is actually the 1st high school in the Philippines to organize a TedX event.They have been doing so since 2012 so this year marks its 4th year and I was really surprised at how active student organizers were. This is indeed a student-lead event.

2015 | Define x
2014 | Inspiring Happiness.
2013 | Fully alive!
2012 | Innovation built on tradition


This year's event saw 6 Speakers coming from different backgrounds. A diverse mix. They were thrown a question to define their X. X could be anything, simply put, what is that one thing that is most important for them. This also is a question each in the audience can relate to and ask themselves. What drives you? What is your passion? That is your X. Could be travel, like for Harly, the first speaker who set the bar high for other speakers to emulate. Could be about the search for identity like Ethan Chua, the student from Xavier School, could be about sharing stories of daily heroism through social media as of that of Tim Humangit, could be about the passion for teaching and changing the lives of young children as defined by Delfin Villafuerte, or the need to affirm one's belief in oneself as for former Ms World Megan Young or it could be finding higher purpose to our work as explained by veteran singer Gary Valenciano.

2015 Speakers

Harly Marcuap
Number 19 may arguably not represent anything in our society, or it may not really mean anything to most of us, but for this person, this number possesses a deeper meaning. His name is Harly Limlingan Marcuap (currently 22 years of age), a young Filipino geologist (he earned a bachelor’s degree in geology from the University of the Philippines Diliman in 2012) and a self - financed traveler. It was at the age of “19” when he started to have the goal to travel across all 81 provinces in the Philippines, and at the age of 21, he was able to accomplish this dream through hard work and dedication.

Travelling is definitely Harly’s passion that it even dates back to his childhood when he would travel around with his family. As a travel blogger, he writes about his trips on various websites and magazines, especially on his personal blog akrosdayunibers.com. And though he already achieved his goal to set foot in all 81 provinces of the country, still he aims to explore much deeper and see more of the Philippine Islands. Also now, he’s starting to tick other territories off his list as he modestly expands his adventures outside the country.

Tim Humangit
Tim Humangit is Founder and Executive Director of Hero Of D Day (HODD), a social media effort with a simple goal: to inspire and educate people using others’ stories of heroism. Firm in the belief of each individual’s unique heroism, Humangit looks around for stories of such heroism to features on social media in order to inspire others to be heroes themselves. In an increasingly connected world, it is easy to be distracted by empty information. To combat this, HODD sheds lights and gives credit to the heroes within all of us.

Ethan Chua
Ethan Chua is a third year high school student from Xavier School with a passion for writing and art; he’s a self-professed nerd and geek (neek? gerd?) who enjoys mathematics and physics along with literature and poetry. He loves making connections and spreading ideas, even (especially) if they’re all over the place. His friends often have to stop him from giving impromptu lectures about the relationship between entropy, love, string theory, and existentialism.

As a speaker and performer, he often seems confident but is really bringing a large script to hide the fact that his hand is shaking while holding the microphone. He also has a crippling fear of thrown projectiles (that’s his excuse for not playing any sports at all) and speaks fluent Chinese (he is as fluent as a five-year old).

Recently, he was able to help organize the Slam Poetry club of Xavier School, which brings together writers from various grade levels to share and perform poetry. The club is currently working on a poetry publication, where he’s contributed poems and layout design. As an avid poet and a member of the club, he’s happy to have been given the chance to talk about poetry and how it’s helped him grow.

Delfin Villafuerte
During his high school and college days, Delfin was known to be the ideal student and an overachiever in a variety of aspects. He graduated class valedictorian in both his high school (La Salle Greenhills) and his college (Ateneo De Manila University), where he finished a double-degree in BS Management Engineering and AB Economics-Honors. He also held a number of different leadership positions during his stay at the Ateneo, including being president of the Ateneo Management Engineering Association. However, outside of academics, he also enjoys singing, dancing, and acting.

After graduation, Delfin chose to become a Fellow with Teach for the Philippines, making him a full-time public school teacher. He is also a part-time lecturer at the Ateneo’s John Gokongwei School of Management, teaching business statistics. Now, after almost two years of teaching, Delfin simply wants to share with us how he discovered his passion for teaching, and why he chooses to teach for the Philippines.

Megan Young
Megan Young is an avid actress and has participated in many television programs nationwide. She has inspired many Filipinos mainly due to her talent, her kindheartedness, and her humility. Megan is also the winner of the 2013 Ms. World beauty pagent at the age of 23, being the first Filipina to claim the title. Moreover, she is a student at De la salle, college of St. Benilde. balancing all these cannot be easy, however, she remains to be hardworking and never fails to impress everyone. Aside from this, she sets aside time to do charity work, her way of giving back to the community that she has lived in.

Gary Valenciano
It is evident that most teenagers these days thrive on Westernized
music like electronic dance music (EDM), contemporary rock, mainstream
pop, and the like, but one thing that continues to live on in the
Philippines is the everlasting presence of OPM. Gary Valenciano, or
typically known as Gary V, is one of the most popular singers that the
Philippines has to offer. Mr. Pure Energy, Gary Valenciano has been a
staple of the industry and largely contributed to the popularization
OPM throughout the nation. Gary V is a true testament to genuine
Filipino talent. He continues to perform onstage, bringing his energy
and all-around good vibes to the fans.

Event Photos

The speakers had me glued to my seat and really inspired me to go for higher aspirations.
I need this kind of intellectual stimulation from time to time. Each of us do. So if you get a chance, try to attebd a TedX event near you.

Congratulations to the organizing team of Xavier School for a job well done. Looking forward to TedX Xavier School 2015! Cheers!

PS: Thanks Harly Marcuap for inviting me over and good job man!


Do follow them on Social Media:
Website: http://tedxxavierschool.com/

Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/TEDxXavierSchool

Twitter: https://twitter.com/TEDxXS