Marija Dunn

Artist, Athlete, Business leader, Connector, Consultant, Designer, Educator/Teacher, Entrepreneur, Event planner, Explorer, Foodie, Global soul, Inventor, Investor, Musician, Performer, Philanthropist, Photographer, Producer, Project manager, Promoter, Real Estate professional, Sales specialist, Social entrepreneur, Startup, Student, World traveler, Writer/Editor

Music producer, world traveled DJ, yoga instructor, event planner and producer, chef and foodie. Currently living in Hawaii where she's teaching yoga and writing music and enjoying learning about Hawaiian ancient culture.

Music, yoga, food, personal and world development.

Education is the key to brighter future.

"Brighter future through more efficient education system" My TED story...One that's heard more and more in recent years. I was born in Serbia and moved to US with my family to pursue the American dream. One bombing too many made it clear to my mother that there is not much future in Serbia for her children so she brought us to US where we all jumped into jobs and schools to build our American lives. Was difficult braking away from that at last found "security" (what is that anyway), to pursue my passion in arts, food, music and yoga. My family believed I should stay with studies of a generic subject that would be outdated by the time I graduated, but I wasn't convinced, I decided to leave college and only focus on studying subjects I love and am truly interested in. Many lives, businesses, and experiences later, at 33 I am on a brink of discovering that one thing that I want to fully dedicate my life to, through which I'll serve the world and impact it in positive, uniquely, my way. That inspired aha moment is coming soon I can feel it, super stoked, will let you and everyone know when it happens. :) So my Ted message is, definitely brighter future through education, but we need to revolutionize the way we are educating people in this country. Elementary school kids are studying how to pass the test, most college kids are lost not sure what direction to take. There should be more efficient testing done to help kids decide which way to go and we should socialize that it's ok for kids to take their time with studies and perhaps even time off to travel or do what ever they need to for a year or two to get unstuck and figure out what makes their heart tick.

Till recently, that I'm a chef, haven't shared that info on media till now. I didn't even know it until I got hired to cook daily 4 dish meals for a group of 30 people at a yoga retreat in Spain this past summer. That was "kitchen impossible" scenario that got my adrenaline up as I only had 4 hours to prepare these meals for hungry yogis, by myself without help. Good times! I cooked for large groups of people before, but this "job" made me official I think. :)