Iluminate x Durham - Changing Mindsets!

Hi everyone! My name is Thrisa Piragasan and I am a Grade 12 student at J. Clarke Richardson Collegiate. Today, I had the pleasure to attend Illuminate x Durham’s regional conference. Here are my thoughts highlighting what I learned about from our Speaker Time conference.

During the meeting Alina Huang discussed her journey of being the CEO of Illuminate Universe, something that I'm sure has not just inspired me but many others. She discussed many important facts of business and the ability to keep moving forward regardless of the obstacles in our path. One thing that I have understood is that we define our own successes, and we hold the key to the happiness that we want. The important factor that helps us strive to do so, is by recognizing ourselves as a leader. Leadership is not something that can be taught, and not everyone will perceive it the same way. You cannot simply test one's ability to act like a leader, but it is more of one who can grow and become one. We need to be confident and trusting in our abilities, we need use our saboteurs as our stepping stones, and most importantly, improve. When we doubt our choices, we doubt in our chances of succeeding, and we would not go so far. Unexpected, amazing things can happen to anyone, as long as we have the right mindset. A real leader would persevere and thus allowing them to strive.

I really enjoyed this session as it allowed me to not only open my eyes on certain things, but also gave me the opportunity to work with other students when we had only a few minutes to think about a business topic as a fun activity. When only using two pictures, to create a whole business concept, you would think we would all have the same ideas, however it can be surprising to realize how everyone is different. To realize that we all managed to come up with different concepts and how each was well presented as well! It was so interesting and really fun!

This session has really changed my mind, giving me an unforgettable experience. Something a simple as taking responsibility over my fears, setbacks, and those who are not my well wishers, will allow me to find solutions and help me on the path I set before me. Thank you for inspiring me, and changing my mindset.