If you google who the best American poets are, you might find names like Walt Whitman, Emily Dickinson, and Robert Frost. Those artists might be interesting to some, but what about the up-and-comings from new generations?
Robyn Adams, a sophomore journalism major from Houston, is a fan of spoken word. In fact, she said she likes it so much that she’s been practicing it for a long time. She said by joining Metaphor Houston (an alumni poetry competition) she had the opportunity to learn the ropes toward her current passion.
“It’s for students from the ages of 13 to 19 in Houston,” she said. “We represented Houston at an international poetry competition. It was hosted by HBO for a couple of years. It’s called Brave New Voices. The first year I competed was in 2011. I had the chance to perform at UC Berkley. The second year we were in San Francisco, and then the third year was New York City.”
Adams said she continued to produce poetry after she found her mentor Emanuel Bean. She said at the time she didn’t know what she wanted to do with her life. Adams said she liked school, but wanted something more for herself.
Robyn Adams said she is excited to share her speech.
She said she attended school in New York for a year, and then made the decision to come back to Texas and attend Texas Tech. Adams said she misses New York a lot, but she is excited for this new chapter of her life.
“Sometimes I feel like I haven’t seen enough. I can’t wait to travel outside of the country and do what I love. I feel like this is only the beginning.”
Adams said she knew she enjoyed writing, and her mentor was the one who got her into poetry. She said he told her to write a poem. Adams said that single poem took her an entire year to write. Now, after getting the process of writing a poem down to a science, she said it only takes her a few weeks.
Now, Adam’s poetry is giving her the opportunity to present one of her pieces during TEDxTexasTechUniversity. What is TEDx exactly?
Dylan Echols, a public relations representative for TEDxTexasTechUniversity, said TEDx is a a program of local, self-organized events that bring people together to share a TED-like experience. A TED experience is made for the coming together of individuals who have been selected from an application process to talk about what means the most to them. All of the speakers who participate are there to engage in thinking, the exchange of ideas, and discussion.
“At a TEDx event, TED-talks video and live speakers are combined to spark deep discussion and connection in a small group,” said Echols. “These local, self-organized events are branded TEDx, where x = independently organized TED event. The TED Conference provides general guidance for the TEDx program, but individual TEDx events are self-organized.”
He said the event is taking place on Feb. 8 and is aimed toward increasing human connectivity in and around the Texas Tech community. Echols said through the TEDx program, presenters (like Adams) will have access to a potentially worldwide stage. He said Adams and 16 other people will present on that Saturday. The event will only allow 300 attendees for the main viewing, but a live webcast of the event will also be organized for a larger audience.
He said distributive ideas are taking shape all across the Texas Tech University system, and this is the time faculty, students, staff, professors can all come together to share their ideas around the world.
Adams said she has known about TED talks for a few years now. She said her coach was on TED talks a couple of years ago, so she knew it was something she was interested in. She said when she heard that Texas Tech was going to participate in a TEDx event she knew she wanted to apply.
“When I heard Texas Tech was doing it I went to their Facebook page, and I just happened to see the link,” she said. “I read the application and it said ‘We’re looking for engineers and scientists to present their research.’ I knew that wasn’t my area of expertise. I called my coach and he encouraged me to go for it.”
Adams said she was very excited when she found out she was chosen to give her speech for TEDxTexasTechUniversity. She said most of her poems are based on her personal experiences. The poem she submitted for TEDx was about women being on their menstrual cycle.
“I think one of the lines from the poem is, ‘we are warriors, champions, for whom do you know who can bleed a week straight and live?’ I guess they liked it.”
Adams said her poem for the TEDxTexasTechUniversity event is called “The Sky is Purple.” She said her poem she is presenting is about her being in public school while her cousin who is the same age as her is in prison.
“It’s talking about the dynamic of numbers,” she said. “I think ever since I was young, it’s always been about the numbers. When you’re in high school it’s all about who has the highest GPA, who can get the best TAKS scores? I think a lot of times we forget who we are as individuals. It’s about who you are as an individual person.”
Details about the event:
– It will take place on Feb. 8 (Saturday) from 8 a.m. to 4:30 p.m.
-It will be hosted in the Lanier Professional Development Center at the Texas Tech School of Law
-It is a community event (not only for students and Texas Tech affiliates)
-Food will be provided throughout the day to ticket holders
-People can find more information about the event by visiting tedx.ttu.edu / Facebook – Tedx Texas Tech Universty/
Twitter – TedxTexasTech (Join the conversation or follow along the day of the conference with #TEDxTexasTech)
About Lauren Estlinbaum
