Anastasia Zaritovskaya
Anastasia Zaritovskaya is a grade 10 student at North Toronto C.I. Her hobbies include taking long walks in the park, writing poetry, and cat appreciation. There are also some things about her that others would consider strange. She doesn’t like horror movies because when she sees someone getting hurt, she physically feels the pain echo on her body. She sees the number line as curving in space and her year takes the shape of an upside-down U. Every letter, number, and word has a specific colour in her mind. This is because Anastasia has synesthesia, a quite rare neurological condition which causes some of her senses to overlap. She will be speaking about her experiences with this condition – and her unique world – in her speech at the TEDx conference.
Charlie Littler
Charlie Littler is a Tedx executive, and student at North Toronto Collegiate Institute. They are passionate about social sciences and human rights. Charlie’s talk will focus on the lives and perception of LGBT+ individuals, and how that perception impacts the LGBT+ community. Charlie is a passionate advocate for the queer community, they are the current president of the North Toronto Gay-Straight alliance, and have worked raising funds for LGBT+ organizations like the 519 Church Street community centre.
Cassidy Bereskin
Since the age of 10, Cassidy has been exploring what she can do on Social Media: everything from championing youth voice to effecting social change. As the Conference Chair of the TDSB’s student senate, Cassidy is no stranger to amplifying the student voice: both her own and the voices of over 250,000 students she represents. Cassidy is the Director of Marketing for Model City Hall — the first conference in Canada to simulate Toronto politics for youth. Through using Social Media for social good, Cassidy has helped hundreds of students become involved with non-profits; she has also helped non-profits gain visibility for their causes. Cassidy can’t wait to tell you her tricks.
Chitta Chowdhury
Chitta Chowdhury has been going to North Toronto Collegiate Institute for 3 years and has loved it here. She is currently in grade 12 and plans to study in political science at University next year. Her family and her moved to Guelph, Ontario from Bangladesh in 1998. As a South Asian kid, growing up in a small city in post-9/11 North America, she had dealt with a fair share of racism. In comparison, Toronto almost seemed like a Utopia- free of racism and a space where minorities could thrive. Once she actually moved to Toronto, she found it isn’t quite what people make it out to be, and realized the complexities of race and class in the big city.
Brigitte Pawliw-Fry
Brigitte started university at Stanford — but at year’s end, decided she needed time away from school. In her year off, she became a hermit (rarely leaving the house), travelled to Central America with a friend, made poor fashion choices, got bangs, and got a job (finally, said most of her family). In her TEDx talk, Brigitte will argue that we all need time off — a sabbatical from school — to think more about who we are instead of what we do.