Ten speakers discussed their interpretations of how to find your truth, as this year’s topic at the annual Ted x URI.
Before the presentations began, alum Aria Mia Loberti ’20, this year’s keynote speaker, talked about her time at the University of Rhode Island and her accomplishments, such as starring as the lead in the Netflix series, “All the Light We Cannot See.”
Going back to URI felt like a full circle moment, according to Loberti in her speech. When she first started at URI in 2016, Loberti wanted to do everything, like being a doctor, lawyer, novelist and traveling the world at the same time.
“I have learned that the truth isn’t something you can plan for in college,” Loberti said. “Stay open because you never know where your truth will find you.”
After Loberti’s speech, the first speaker, Tim Chace, talked about embracing life’s contradictions: finding your truth when you least expect it. A transformative educational leader, Chace used to hate school as a student, but now he’s been an assistant principal for 25 years.
“The kid that never wanted to set foot in a school has now spent 52 consecutive years in a school,” Chace said. “I can’t imagine being anywhere else.”
The second speaker was Leetal Young, a fourth-year double major in psychology and human family studies with a minor in leadership studies at URI. She talked about the power of tuning out the noise.
“I used to be the little girl waiting for someone to care about her, but the truth is she had to care about herself,” Young said. “The only person that was going to be there for me was me.”
Afterwards, Jarrell Garcia, the associate director of campus recreation, talked about what conflict reveals about truth and identity.
“In moments of discomfort and transition, be open to the truth that can shift you closer to who you can become,” Garcia said.
Shaplaie Brooks, an advocate for LGBTQ+ children at high risk for sexual exploitation, explained her interpretation as: “From silence to song: finding the truth in breaking every chain.”
“The only way to grow to your purpose is to face some truths about you,” Brooks said. “So what truth are you willing to face today?”
Sharmin Attaran, the director of the digital marketing program at Bryant University, talked about the battle for truth in a viral world.
“We have to decide, are we passing consumers with information, or are we defenders of the truth?” Attaran said. “Because if we don’t make better choices now, we’re going to live in a world where there is no truth.”
Brenton DeBoef, a professor of chemistry and the dean of the graduate school at URI, talked about the holy grail of science communication.
“If you’re like me and you feel doubly likely to struggle to keep two parts of yourself from intersecting, for me, that was my identity as a scientist and my deputies and faith,” DeBoef said. “You would make something completely different, but those two streams of truth intersect in you, and that’s a gift for such a time as this.”
Erin Thorkilsen, an elementary school teacher, talked about how children help us remember what’s true.
“Kids inspire us to be better versions of ourselves, Thorkilsen said. “It’s really returning to what’s already there when they’re helping us around the world.”
Renae Martin, a health and longevity coach presented what patients taught her about the truth.
“To find your truth, give your attention inward and listen,” Martin said.
URI Alum Riley Lenihan ’24 talked about searching for understanding with the scientific method.
“The truth is not found in isolation, and understanding isn’t found in isolation either,” Lenihan said. “It is discovered through collaboration … once we find out how to understand other people.”
The last presenter, Teddy Lytle, a theatre artist and educator, talked about his struggle with alcohol while being successful as an actor by being “a bold-faced liar.”
“The truth, not what you wish you were…but the cold, hard, honest truth [of] who we are colors the lens in which we review the world, which in turn colors the way in which we lie,” Lytle said.
To watch the full TEDxURI virtually, go to URI’s website.
