Joshua Mathew
Joshua Mathew is a sophomore at Neuqua Valley. As a student athlete, he runs cross country and track for Neuqua Valley, and runs year round. In addition to his athletic endeavors, Joshua is also a youth leader at his local church, St. Peters Syriac Orthodox Church. His talk is about the flawed culture and norms in athletic environments, and how they restrict athletes from getting a support system and the mental help they need.
Cormac Flanigan
Cormac Flanigan is a freshman at Neuqua Valley. From a young age he’s been obsessed with bugs and has lead this passion into creating an ambitious character with a desire for a voice. Being fairly talkative, Cormac thrilled to be involved in the speech team at his high school. Using these skills, Cormac is interested in sharing his ideas, he will be speaking about fostering creativity in children, how that creativity carries on to later years, and how you can bring creativity in to your own life.
Vismaya Yogesh
Vismaya Yogesh is passionate musician, aspiring engineer, and dedicated volunteer for the community as a sophomore at Neuqua Valley High School. She is an Indian Classically trained singer, and believes that music is more than just entertainment—It is a universal language that has the power to influence, heal, inspire, and most importantly, connect people together. In her talk, Vismaya hopes to use her passion as her melody, and purpose as her rhythm to allow others to see how music has impacted her, and explore the wonders that music can offer. Music has a groundbreaking capability of changing our perspective of the universe—One note at a time.
Shushan Arora
Shushan Arora is a student at Bolingbrook High School who is making waves in the world of technology-driven public safety, particularly in emergency preparedness and community resilience. He proudly serves as the junior varsity captain of his school’s Scholastic Bowl team and is actively involved in Model UN, Best Buddies, Mathletes, The Word, SkillsUSA, and the boys volleyball team. Shushan’s passions lie at the crossroads of technology, civic duty, and storytelling. His perspective has been shaped by a personal experience with a devastating tornado in his hometown, which fuels his mission to show how young people can tackle systemic issues using innovative and accessible tools. His TEDx talk highlights his dedication to changing the way communities approach crisis readiness and underscores the impact of student-led solutions in critical situations.
Maya Sharma
Maya Sharma is sophomore at Neuqua Valley High School. She created HAAL, a mental health app that uses mood journaling and AI to help students recognize signs of emotional distress early, which earned national recognition through the Congressional App Challenge. She currently serves on the Youth Advisory Committee for 360 Youth Services, a nonprofit focused on youth mental health and wellness. In her TEDx talk, Maya explores the need for culturally specific and inclusive approaches to mental health. Through technology, advocacy, and her own lived experience, she hopes to reshape how mental health is understood and supported in diverse communities.
Rhythm of the Islands
Rhythm of the Islands is a traditional Filipino dance group led by young adults who strive to represent Pinoy pride throughout the Chicagoland suburbs! They wish to continue keeping Filipino traditional dance culture alive in the newer generation. They will be performing Sayaw sa Bangko, which they have fully choreographed themselves. Sayaw sa Bangko, which directly translates to “bench dance,” is a Filipino courtship folk dance typically performed at town festivals.
Abhinav Pal
Abhinav began playing tabla at 9 years old. 5 years later, at age 14, Abhinav continues to hone his craft. The complex rhythms expressed through his Indian classical drums represent the heartbeat and flow of the universe. Abhinav tries to master these rythms in a way that honors tradition while exploring how each taal can be used as a tool of expression .
Jeremy Liu
Piano has developed with me as a part of my life since I was five years old. Its complex rhythms and diverse musical qualities allow me to express myself creatively and provide connections to past experiences and the social world surrounding me. Additionally, I enjoy sharing music with others as it brings people together, expanding views on both the beauty of creativity and the influential history of not only music but also human thought. In my opinion, communicating with music does not relate to an individual's ability to "play well," for it is a language that describes nature and ultimately "Unveils the Unseen." It is for this reason, and to explore society as a whole, that I wanted to join TEDxBolingbrook Youth on their mission to discover and spread ideas that spark imagination, embrace possibility, and catalyze impact.