Student voices strong at speech night


Business graduate student Omar Durrani shared his story, the story of love behind arranged marriages.

Business graduate student Omar Durrani shared his story, the story of love behind arranged marriages.

Eleven FIU students dug deep into their hearts and strapped on their microphones. On April 8, they took the stage in front of their peers and community members. They let their voices be heard.

TEDxFIU Club’s second annual “Your Speech, Your Night” event featured students from diverse majors discussing a wide range of topics from the importance of silence in busy lives to the artistry of games, how to become an expert salesperson and explorations of cultural identity.

“The experience was extremely beneficial, exhilarating, transformative,” said business administration master’s student Omar Durrani, who spoke about the love behind arranged marriages. “You have to become the speaker the audience demands. That means to be prepared, eloquent, honest and likable.”

An audience favorite, Durrani, whose family is from India, discussed his journey from resisting arranged marriages to finding and falling in love with his future wife through the arranged marriage process. To immerse the audience in his journey, he literally acted out scenes from his story and shared his thoughts at the time.

By the end of his speech, a riveted audience member asked when the wedding day was. The lovebirds marry in July.

“I wanted my audience to feel what I was going through, I wanted to go through the motions so it would hit home with them. I wanted to shed light on a topic most people are unaware of or misguided about.”

Junior psychology major and student speaker Catherine Campos shared her story too, a story of hope.

At just five-years-old, Campos was in an accident that left her in a coma and resulted in brain surgery at the time. Doctors offered her parents little hope that she would recover. But she did.

“I have managed to be the best I can be all because of the fire in my soul and the knowledge I gained during my early life,” Campos said during her speech.

She closed her speech with Rocky’s iconic lines from the film Rocky Balboa (2006): “It ain’t about how hard you hit. It’s about how hard you can get hit and keep moving forward.”

TEDxFIU 2015 speaker Patricia Kayser spoke at the event and came with her brother, Christian.

TEDxFIU 2015 speaker Patricia Kayser (right) spoke at the event and introduced her brother, Chris.

An advocate for the autistic, Patricia Kayser ’15 was a speaker at TEDxFIU 2015 as well as the inaugural 2015 Your Speech, Your Night event. She came back for this year’s club event, too.

She brought along her brother, Chris, who is on the autism spectrum, and introduced him to the audience. She also shared her journey from speaking at the club event a year earlier to becoming a TEDxFIU speaker.

“This [event] is a great opportunity for people that have something to say to go out there and take the chance,” she said. “It’s an invitation to try it out, expose those feelings you have in your heart. It’s a great opportunity to do so without feeling pressure of speaking in front of a huge crowd. I actually wouldn’t have talked in the TEDxFIU talk if it wasn’t for that [event last year].”

When she heard about the 2015 club event, she decided to speak about Autism & Music, the non-profit organization she founded in 2013. Since she discovered music helped her brother become more interactive and social, she started the non-profit to help individuals with autism experience the benefits of music interaction.

Kayser realized people connected with her story, so she applied to speak at TEDxFIU 2015. Her talk is the most viewed TEDxFIU 2015 speech video to date.

“I think it’s a great event,” club faculty advisor and communication arts professor Antoine Hardy said. “One of the great advantages of college is that it’s a place where you can find your voice. This event really allows students to share their voice, what they are passionate about and to inspire their peers.”

Club president Aisha Hassan added: “I really love TED because I love the idea of learning for the sake of learning.” She explained she was happy to see the student speakers grow confident in their speaking abilities and share in the experience of learning together and telling their stories.

For several club speakers, many of them self-proclaimed TED speech enthusiasts, the event offered an all-important practice run for their speech before applying to become TEDxFIU 2016 speakers.

The deadline to apply to speak or perform at TEDxFIU is April 29. TEDxFIU 2016 speaker applications are now open. A separate application for those who wish to perform at TEDxFIU 2016 is also available.