In an extraordinary display of courage and talent, Mirabel Obiekezie, an S6 pupil from Albyn School, recently stood in the spotlight at TEDx Aberdeen to deliver a talk that left the audience in awe.
The event, held at the Music Hall in Aberdeen on Saturday November 16, brought together an eclectic mix of speakers, but it was Mirabel’s youthful perspective and confidence that captivated hearts.
The theme of this year’s TEDx Aberdeen was identity. Speaking alongside two other young participants, Mirabel focused her talk on how human identity is built around us and how we let it evolve.
“I really enjoyed the experience, it was so fun and I met a lot of people. It was a great opportunity to be involved in,” she shared.
“I was nervous before the event and had been tripping over my words when I was rehearsing but when I actually got on to the stage it went really smoothly and thankfully nothing went wrong.”
The journey to the TEDx stage began months earlier, when Mirabel was taking part in a Ted-Ed event with her school. TED-Ed Aberdeen is an initiative created in the spirit of TED’s overall mission to inspire, educate and share “ideas worth spreading”.
The event was open to applications from all S3-S6 pupils across the North-east of Scotland and proved highly popular.
A select number of participants were invited to give a talk on the theme of STEM and it was on the back of this event that Mirabel was selected to join Tedx Aberdeen.
Mirabel heard the news last month that she had been selected to take part in Tedx Aberdeen and after dedicating countless hours to writing the talk and rehearsing she took to the stage over the weekend to deliver her message.
She said: “I’m so thankful for this opportunity as it helped me greatly in many areas. I not only learned how to put together a talk that will keep people interested, but I also improved greatly in my public speaking and can now give talks confidently while keeping the audience engaged with props and humour.
“I would definitely do it again, it was an amazing experience!”
Mirabel is currently doing her Advanced Highers and hopes to pursue a career in medicine however plans to continue her new found love for public speaking,
She added: “I found I've really enjoyed public speaking so I think I’d like to do more of it. I want to go into medicine so maybe I’ll join a debate club or something!”