Illaria Dana

Education Major

Mind the gap was the theme for Tedx SMCC. The phrase encouraged viewers to connect disparate ideas and people within their lives. The rehearsal for Tedx SMCC highlighted the work of student volunteers in the Communications and New Media and Information Technology Departments, as well as the level of commitment required by speakers and staff.

Lloyd Metcalf, freelance artist/illustrator and adventure writer, reminded viewers that, “actively pursuing a dream in the modern world is rare these days.” He called out the hypocrisy of idolizing people who are successful while discouraging people for pursuing dreams, such as art. Metcalf said, “We start measuring [people’s] value by how much money we think they’ll make,” rather than their commitment to an ideal and working to reach that ideal.

The gap that Metcalf overcame was being told he would most likely work at a mill in small-town Maine which effectively postponed his dreams of illustrating and designing “fantasy tabletop role playing games.” He overcame this gap by attending and graduating from the SMCC Communications and New Media Department.

Kristen Miale, President of the Good Shepherd Food Bank, spoke about the stigmas against poverty. She said, “The United States is the only country that blames poverty on the poor.” The gap that Miale closed was the belief that people in poverty should be able to attain self-actualization without having their basic needs met such as safety and security, psychological well-being, love and well-being, and esteem. She followed psychologist Abraham Maslow’s Hierarchy of Needs to show telling people in poverty to “just get a job” discourages self-improvement. She reminded viewers that, “there is a person behind the poverty.”

The third speaker was Jess Knox, Founder and President of Olympico Strategies. Knox told viewers that, “Today’s model for prosperity is outdated. The new model for success will mean you can have meaningful impact on your community.” He believes that people need to be allowed to make mistakes in small communities in Maine without the fear of being ostracized. The interplay between global communities encouraging creativity and risks and small towns condemning actions that deviate from the social norm leave towns run by the fear of failure in the dust.

According to Knox, Maine must welcome new citizens to diversify the population and generate new ideas. Multiplicity and risks lead to innovation. This theme ran throughout all speakers’ talks, including Becky McKinnell, the President of iBec and co-founder of iKno Intranet, who started her own company at 22 and spoke of the difficulties of being taken seriously as a young woman, and Quang Nguyen, the Vietnamese community advocate who started his career at SMCC, and revealed the difficulties of the language barrier when learning English.

Michelle Neujahr, SMCC Business Professor and Business Coach and Nicole Maines, a University of Maine-Orono student and Transgender youth activist spoke about gaining confidence in understanding who they are and feeling resolved in order to take their place in the world. Neujahr was a teenaged rebel who, after becoming pregnant, got a scholarship to a community college. She had listened to motivational tapes as a child and is a business coach along with being an instructor. She spoke about her first night teaching. She had not shared her story and felt disconnected from her students. It was important to be authentic and share her emotions.

Her experiences reflect the importance of community college. Success, for her, is the ability to serve people in similar situations to her own.

Maines spoke about becoming herself. Her journey included alienation from her school system, her peers, and her parents. Her speech humanized what many consider to be an issue remote from their personal lives. However, human rights are deeply personal, based on the belief that all people have the right to exist on this planet and to flourish. The final speaker was Liz Leddy, boxer and alcoholic in recovery.

Now that the event is over, the potential created by hard work is seemingly limitless. Kate Sibole, one of the faculty coordinators of the event, said, “I’m most eager to explore ways in which we can sustain the energy that was generated both during the planning and the production part of TEDx. It took up a huge and wonderful chunk of time! Each and every student who volunteered- whether they came to one meeting or the entire year’s worth- was part of something that was bigger than all the parts.”

Sibole’s observations reflected the themes of TedX SMCC. Each speaker discussed creating bridges between what was possible and desirable, whether it was personal success, authenticity, or service to the greater community, with making these possibilities reality. Sibole said, “The response has been overwhelmingly positive and the outreach beyond the college community immense.” Part of this response has been opportunities for students to connect with people in their future fields.

Without the platform of Tedx, it will be up to students and faculty to generate events with similar themes and outcomes. While the speakers took stage, their diligence shows what students are capable of, bridging the gap between education and actuality.