TEDxUWCCR Youth

Speakers

Speakers may not be confirmed. Check the event website for the latest lineup.

• Aarush Kumar

  Student at UWC Costa Rica

  I have spent my life moving across three very different worlds: the noise and colour of Mumbai, the calm and clarity of Botswana, and the warmth of Costa Rica. For a long time, these places felt like separate pieces of me, each with its own rhythm and weight. Eventually, I began to see how they spoke to each other. How small memories and sensations connected across continents and shaped the way I understood myself. My talk comes from those quiet connections. From realising that identity is not fixed in one place but carried in the stories and fragments we refuse to forget. I am Aarush Kumar, 16, Indian, a student at UWC Costa Rica, and this talk is my way of honoring the mosaic that has been forming all along and helping others see the quiet stories shaping their own lives too.

• Amaara Ajania Samanani

  Student at UWC Costa Rica

  I am a performer at heart. As a 17 year old songwriter, poet, and actress, I believe that the most effective way to reach people is through the connections that art creates. My poetry tries to combat the cultural erosion caused by globalisation, the kind that values sameness and suppresses unique truth. I contend that we stand precariously close to losing the foundation of our differences. I argue that Civil discourse is not a convenience, but a necessity, and that passive participation is no longer an option. My poem, "Speak" is a potent plea for every individual to reclaim their voice and use the courage of their truth to be the difference our world desperately needs.

• Maitreyi Manoj Nair

  Student at UWC Costa Rica

  I’m Maitreyi Manoj Nair, and I’ve spent my life moving between different places and different ‘homes’. Each of these places have helped shape me and my understanding of the world. When I was younger, one of my strongest memories was watching the Olive Ridley turtles nest on the beaches of Odisha, India. And at that time, it felt like just another beautiful thing I grew up around. Years later, when I moved to Costa Rica, I saw the same turtles again in Ostional, doing exactly what I remembered from my childhood. That moment made me realise how connected two places can be, even when they seem completely different. My talk comes from that coincidence. It’s not about being an expert but rather it’s about how a childhood memory can reappear in another part of the world and change the way you see things. For me, the turtles became a quiet reminder of how our choices, environments, and lives are more connected than we think.

• Maxime De Coriolis

  Student at UWC Costa Rica

  I’m Maxime De Coriolis, I’m 16 years old. I grew up on the island of Mauritius, with a Mauritian father and a French mother, and this multicultural environment has shaped the way I understand identity and the world around me. For me, diversity has never been an abstract idea; it has always been my everyday life. Growing up between different cultures taught me to stay curious, to listen deeply, and to question what I think I already know. It showed me that identity isn’t a fixed box, but something that grows with every story we hear and every person we meet. This is one of the reasons why coming to UWC felt natural: it’s a place where differences fuel learning, and where conversations can genuinely change you. My journey is still unfolding, but each step from my multicultural upbringing in Mauritius to my life now at UWC strengthens my desire to contribute to a more thoughtful, just, and connected world.

• Milly Luna Lozano

  Student at UWC Costa Rica

  My name is Milly, Nicaraguan student from UWC Costa Rica, generation 2026, and I would describe myself as a collage of shifting pieces, fragments of passions, memories, and dreams that keep rearranging into something new. I am still discovering my path, looking at life through colorful lenses: literature, film, and fine arts are the languages through which I try to understand the world. My mind often feels like a wave, pulling me in different directions, sometimes gently, sometimes restlessly but always searching for meaning. In that movement, I seek to understand not only myself but also the people and realities that surround me. What I value most are connections, deep, authentic connections with others, with my present, and with the environment that shapes me. I feel that art can change the world through connecting shifting pieces of others and ourselves. I especially like new beginnings, even though they challenge me and push me out of my comfort zone.

• Pedro Ortuño García

  Student at UWC Costa Rica

  Hey there! I’m Pedro Ortuño, a 16-year-old guy from southern Spain, who recently realized that he wasn’t able to be himself anymore. After years of struggling to fit in, I completely normalized copying social trends and hiding all my differences just to be accepted. But suddenly, I understood the truth: My uniqueness, just like yours, wasn’t something to fix, it was my superpower, and the day I embraced it, I finally felt alive.

• Sebastian Torija Cuellar

  Student at UWC Costa Rica

  If you look through your playlists right now, what single phrase would you use to describe your musical taste? Now, hold that thought. Maybe the answer I used to give “I listen to a little bit of everything” leaves out a key part of the story. The deeper question this raises is: how willing are we to listen beyond our playlist? Being surrounded by friends from diverse backgrounds immersed me in rhythms that led me from dancing to Mahive to enthusiastically singing a German song at the top of my lungs even though I do not speak German. I even found myself cooking desserts while sharing familiar rhythms from home. My journey now is to explore how music can become a bridge connecting friends, families, and cultures, the same way one chord can instantly unite strangers. I am Sebastian Torija Cuellar, a student in constant discovery at UWC Costa Rica ‘26, learning to listen deeply so the world doesn’t have to sound the same but can instead learn to harmonize in its beautiful differences.