Now, let's talk about 20 time.
My opinion on 20 time is that it is an extraordinary concept that allows students to create/do/produce something that they have always been passionate about but couldn't find the time for during the school year. For me, 20 time allowed me to rediscover my love for reading and bring it back to be a part of my daily life.
However, there are some aspects of 20 time that should be adjusted for future students. It was really hard to find something to blog about every week. I think that blogging every two weeks is a much better idea as it allows students to actually complete some work for their project and write more than they would with blogs every week. I also thought that the class room time was very beneficial for me personally, as I was able to read in class, but I know friends and other classmates that couldn't complete anything on their project (other than blog posts). Maybe a solution to this problem would be to dedicate certain weekends to not having English homework and using that time instead to work on 20 time projects. But, there are also things that should not be changed about 20 time. I do not believe in taking away Friday time from students because it was something that I looked forward to every week. And even though I was just reading and others were sitting around, it allowed us to having planning time on what to do next in our projects.
Because of this, I think 20 time is something that more students should be offered in school. The fact that Grosse Pointe South High School is holding a TEDx event furthermore proves that students, teenagers, are able to produce amazing results and that 20 time encourages people to find their passion and see what they are able to create.
With these thoughts, I encourage others to reflect and find or discover their passions. For students doing 20 time in the following years, don't be afraid of failure or not having the coolest project because, like me, you can still do something awesome (even if it's small) and inspire others to do something similar. I wouldn't change anything I have done with this project and it is extremely important to not regret anything; even if you felt that you wasted your 20 time. Because you didn't, you discovered that it's hard to find time, become motivated, and most importantly, you either discovered what you are passionate about or what you are not. So don't view 20 time as something negative because it didn't live up to your expectations, view it as a personal growing project and something that could quite literally change your life.
And finally, I just want to thank everyone for supporting me as a speaker at TEDx Grosse Pointe South HS. This was such a wonderful experience and I cannot thank all of my family, friends, mentor, and teacher enough. Having this opportunity has enabled me to change other people's lives with my ideas. I thought that the event went very smoothly other than the few minor problems (technological issues) but, that's always going to happen. Hosting a TEDx event at GPSHS is something that I think my school should continue to do because the talks that were given today were only a few students' ideas, next year there will be more and the year after that as well. The TEDx experience is worth wild and I am so happy to have shared that with my classmates, friends, and family.
So once again, thank you all for standing by me throughout this entire project but remember, this is only the beginning for me.
~Jackie
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