Harnessing passion to make a difference

Most, if not all, university students find themselves facing an existential crisis at one time or another. For Trishala Pillai, that crisis came at the right time. She says, “It is normal to face such crises – everyone does, unfortunately. We just don’t talk about it.”

Trishala was trying to figure out what to do with her life when she attended the TEDxUW 2014 conference last year – an event that she describes as “truly life-changing.” Trishala had long appreciated the global TED movement, particularly for the way the organization builds unity in the world, pursues impact, and brings people together regardless of geographic location, demographics, or any self-made barrier.

Growing up, Trishala recalls herself as having “various dimensions to her personality.” She is sensitive to other people’s feelings and needs, witty, eager to empower those around her, and passionate about giving back to the community. However, she had no clear idea how to use these traits. She observes, “We’re conditioned to be good at skills and disciplines such as math, science, and arts, but other skills such as being a good friend, loyal, a good listener, and open-minded, are underrated and overseen.”

At TEDxUW 2014, however, she listened to speakers from various walks of life, with different personalities and realized that character, passion and dream teams are what drive ideas forward. She came out of the event with a new motivation: to leverage those underrated strengths within an applied framework. Trishala also decided that she wanted TEDxUW to be a big part of her undergraduate experience – that she would get involved and find a way to help people who were searching for purpose as she had been.

The talk that was most helpful to Trishala was the one given by St. Paul’s GreenHouse alumna and founder of Full Soul Canada, Christina Marchand, who talked about the importance of minding the gaps, and to push yourself to find the gaps that you see in the world.

Trishala decided to do just that, so she applied to be the co-chair of TEDxUW 2015, which will be held on November 14 at the Centre of International Governance and Innovation in Waterloo (visit www.tedxuw.com for more information and to apply to attend the conference).

Once chosen, she and her co-chair, Mugwe Kiragu, began talking about the theme of the conference and decided that they wanted to use this event as a catalyst for bringing people together who might not typically work together, and to re-emphasize the important message that there is something to learn from everyone. They chose a theme of Collaboration, something that has been broadened even more as they have worked with a wide range of world-class speakers for the conference.

Trishala had never heard of social innovation before participating in the C3 Inspire conference at which GreenHouse was represented, but in many ways, it described her existing values. This fall, in her 4A term as a student of Economics, Trishala has moved into GreenHouse for her final year.

One of the key values Trishala appreciates most about GreenHouse is that everyone wants to help out  – whether it is mentors, students helping one another, or program advisors. She says, “Nobody hesitates or thinks twice when it comes to seeing someone else’s idea grow.” That sense of community is also a value she truly appreciates about the TED organization.

This fall, in addition to her work with TEDxUW, Trishala is working on a social change initiative that uses media to empower people (both men and women, girls and boys) in developing countries to overcome low self-esteem or obstacles they face through the power of positive stories, role modeling, and honesty.

“Self-esteem has been called the disease of our generation,” says Trishala, noting that 85 percent of the world’s population suffers from low self-esteem. She believes that media is a powerful tool and if used responsibly can have a vast impact. “A lot of people derive strength from knowing that they’re not alone. We need to start talking about our vulnerabilities and weaknesses just as much as we talk about our strengths.” 

While Trishala credits positive role models and free-spirited thinking in her own family and in the wider world for helping her along the way, she says the biggest takeaway so far from her GreenHouse experience is learning how to apply a structured analytical approach. “Passion and big ideas are great, but you need the ability to break it down and think about how to carry a project forward.”

As she embarks on the TEDxUW conference and her media project, Trishala says,

- by Susan Fish

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