[Music]
when you're a kid you get asked this one
particular question a lot
it really gets kind of annoying what do
you want to be when you grow up now
adults are hoping for answers like I
want to be an astronaut or I want to be
a neurosurgeon you adults in your
imaginations kids they're most likely to
answer with pro skateboarder surfer or
minecraft player I asked my little
brother and he said seriously dude I'm
ten I have no idea
probably a pro skier let's go get some
ice cream see us kids are going to
answer is something we're stoked on what
we think is cool well we have experience
with and that's typically the opposite
of what adults want to hear but if you
ask a little kid sometimes they'll get
the best answer something so simple so
obvious and really profound when I grow
up I want to be happy for me when I grow
up I want to continue to be happy like I
am now I'm stoked to be here at TEDx I
mean I've been watching Ted videos for
as long as I can remember but I never
thought I'd make it on stage here so
soon I mean I just became a teenager and
like most teenage boys I spend most of
my time wondering how did my room get so
messy all on its own did I take a shower
today and the most perplexing of all how
do I get girls to like me
neuroscientists say that the teenage
brain is pretty weird our prefrontal
cortex is underdeveloped but we actually
have more neurons than adults which is
why we can be so creative and impulsive
and moody and get bummed out but what
bums me out is to know that a lot of
kids today are just wishing to be happy
to be healthy to be safe not bullied and
be loved for who they are so it seems to
me when adults say what do you want to
be when you grow up they just assume
that you'll automatically be happy and
healthy but maybe that's not the case go
to school go to college get a job get
married boom then you'll be happy
right
you don't seem to make learning how to
be happy and healthy a priority in our
schools it's separate from schools and
for some kids it doesn't exist at all
but what if we didn't make it separate
what if we based education on the study
and practice of being happy and healthy
because that's what it is a practice and
a simple practice at that education is
important but why is being happy and
healthy not considered education I just
don't get it so I've been studying the
science of being happy and healthy it
really comes down to practicing these
eight things exercise diet nutrition
time and nature contributions service to
others relationships recreation
relaxation and stress management and
religious or spiritual involvement yes
got that one so these eight things come
from dr. Roger Walsh he calls them
therapeutic lifestyle changes or TLC's
for short he's a scientist that studies
how to be happy and healthy in
researching this talk I got a chance to
ask him a few questions like do you
think that our schools today are making
these eight TLC's a priority his
response was no surprise it was
essentially nope but he did say that
many people do try to get this kind of
education outside of the traditional
arena they're reading and practices such
as meditation or yoga but what I thought
was his best response was that much of
education is oriented for better or
worse towards making a living rather
than making a life in 2006 Sir Ken
Robinson gave the most popular TED talk
of all time schools kill creativity his
message is that creativity is as
important as literacy and we should
treat it with the same status a lot of
parents watch those videos some of those
parents like mine Canada is one of the
reasons they felt confident to pull
their kids from traditional school to
try something different I realized I'm
part of this small but growing
revolution of kids who are going about
their education differently and you know
what it freaks a lot of people out even
though I was only nine when my parents
pulled me out of the school system I can
still remember my mom being in tears
when some of her friends told her she
was
a stupid idea looking back I'm thankful
she didn't cave to peer pressure and I
think she is too so out of the two
hundred million people people people
that have watched her Ken Robinson's
talk why aren't there more kids like me
out there shane McConkey is my hero
I loved him because he was the world's
best skier but then one day I realized
what I really loved about Shane he was a
hacker not a computer hacker he act
skiing his creativity and inventions
made skiing what it is today and why I
love to ski a lot of people think of
hackers as geeky computer nerds who live
in their parents basement and spread
computer viruses but I don't see it that
way
hackers are innovators hackers are
people who challenge and change these
systems to make them work differently to
make them work better it's just how they
think it's a mindset I'm growing up in a
world that needs more people with the
hacker mindset and not just for
technology everything is up for being
hat even skiing even education so
whether it's Steve Jobs Mark Zuckerberg
or shane McConkey having the hacker
mindset can change the world healthy
happy creativity in the hacker mindset
are all a large part of my education I
call it hack schooling I don't use any
one particular curriculum and I'm not
dedicated to any one particular approach
I hacked my education I take advantage
of opportunities in my community and
through a network of my friends and
family I take advantage of opportunities
to experience what I'm learning and I'm
not afraid to look for shortcuts or
hacks to get a better faster result it's
like a remix or a mash-up of learning
it's flexible opportunistic and it never
loses sight of making happy healthy and
creativity a priority and here's the
cool part because it's a mindset not a
system hack schooling can be used by
anyone even traditional schools so
what does my school look like well it
looks like Starbucks a lot of the time
but like most kids I study a lot of math
science history and writing I didn't use
selector right because my teachers made
me write about butterflies and rainbows
and I wanted to write about skiing it
was a relief when my good friends mom
started the Valley kids Institute
where I got to write through my
experiences in my interests while
connecting with great speakers from
around the nation and that sparked my
love writing I realized that once you're
motivated motivated to learn something
you can get a lot done in a short amount
of time and on your own
Starbucks is pretty great for that
hacking physics was fun we learned all
about Newton and Galileo and some and we
experienced some basic physics concepts
like kinetic energy through
experimenting and making mistakes my
favorite was the giant Newton's Cradle
that we made out of bowling balls I
think no bocce balls we experimented
with a lot of other things like bowling
balls and even giant jawbreakers project
discoveries ropes course is awesome and
slightly stressful when you're 60 feet
off the ground you have to learn how to
handle your fears Munich a clearly and
most importantly trust each other
community organizations play a big part
in my education a hi-fi foundations
basics program being aware and safe and
critical critical situations we spent a
day with the Valley Ski Patrol to
learn more about mountain safety then
the next day we switch to signs of snow
weather and avalanches but most
importantly we learn that making bad
decisions puts you and your friends at
risk young should talk what brings
history to life you study a famous
character in history until you can stand
on stage and perform as that character
and answer any question about their
lifetime in this photo you see Al Capone
and Bob Marley getting grilled with
questions at the historical I have
Piper's Opera House in Virginia City the
same stage where Harry Houdini got his
start time in nature is
really important to me it's calm quiet
and I get to just logout a reality I
spend one day a week outside all day at
my Fox Walker classes our goal is to be
able to survive in the wilderness with
just a knife we learned to listen to
nature we learned to sense their
surroundings and I've gained a spiritual
connection to nature that I never knew
existed but the best part is that we get
to make Spears bows and arrows fires
with just a bow drill and survival
shelters for the snowy nights when we
camp out hanging out at the moment
factory where they hand makes skis and
design clothes has really inspired me to
one day have my own business the guys at
the factory has showed me why I need to
be good at math be creative and get good
at sewing so I got an internship at big
shop Brant to get better at design and
sewing between fetching lunch scrubbing
toilets and breaking their vacuum
cleaner I'm getting to contribute to
clothing design customizing hats and
selling them the people who work there
happy healthy creative and stoked to be
doing what they're doing this is by far
my favorite class so this is where I'm
really happy powder days and it's a good
metaphor for my life my education my
hack schooling if everyone Steve this
mountain like most people think of
education everyone would be skiing the
same line probably the safest and most
of the powder would go untouched
I look at this and see a thousand
possibilities dropping the cornice
shredding the spine looking for a
from cliff to cliff skiing to me is
freedom and so as my education it's
about being creative doing things
differently it's about community and
helping each other it's about being
happy and healthy among my very best
friends so I'm starting to think I know
what I might want to do when I grow up
but if you ask me what do I want to be
when I grow up I'll always know that I
want to be happy thank you
[Applause]
you