What Box? - Alex Knudson at TEDx Homer
-
0:19 - 0:21I've loved school.
-
0:21 - 0:24Until the time I took my first test.
-
0:24 - 0:26I loved my teachers and I loved my friends.
-
0:26 - 0:30But I hated reading. It made my head hurt.
-
0:30 - 0:33Specialists started pointing me
out of my classroom -
0:33 - 0:36and labeled me "reading and writing disabled."
-
0:36 - 0:39And for years I was totally freaked out
and anxious about school. -
0:39 - 0:42And in middle school it got worse.
-
0:42 - 0:45Until I started home school.
-
0:45 - 0:47That's when I realized I just needed
an alternative way to learn. -
0:49 - 0:52So I studied ancient civilizations in Egypt,
-
0:52 - 0:54biology on safaris in Kenya,
-
0:54 - 0:58and real life math at grocery stores,
currency exchanges on Craigslist. -
0:58 - 1:02After homeschooling,
my grade point average came up, -
1:02 - 1:06my self esteem came back
and I felt empowered. -
1:06 - 1:10And once I became responsible
for my own time management, -
1:10 - 1:12and I kinda got used to that,
-
1:12 - 1:14I couldn't imagine a future
on somebody else's schedule. -
1:15 - 1:18So last year I created my own business.
-
1:18 - 1:20The idea came to me in Liverpool
-
1:20 - 1:23when I was watching amphibious
World War II vehicles called ducks -
1:23 - 1:26giving land and water tours.
-
1:26 - 1:27Back home at Homer Alaska.
-
1:27 - 1:31I came up with...
I researched and wrote a similar tour -
1:31 - 1:33even though there was no way
I could afford a duck. -
1:33 - 1:37Two years later though, I came up
with a more affordable tour. -
1:37 - 1:40Entered a business idea contest,
won some cash, -
1:40 - 1:44and became the owner of a replica
of a San Francisco trolley. -
1:44 - 1:48I've learned about regulations,
marketing and ordinances, -
1:48 - 1:51and what it takes to get
old moving parts moving again. -
1:51 - 1:54The morning before my first tour,
-
1:54 - 1:57I was underneath the trolley
fixing a fuel leak, -
1:57 - 1:59gas dripping down my elbows.
-
1:59 - 2:01And I remember thinking to myself
-
2:01 - 2:04"I could be sleeping in right now."
-
2:04 - 2:07Well, aside from worrying about
an occasional fuel leak -
2:07 - 2:09or work interfering
with my fishing schedule, -
2:09 - 2:12I'm happy to know how empowering
it is to start with a dream -
2:12 - 2:15and end with something tangible.
-
2:15 - 2:17I have learned
that I can't let people label me. -
2:17 - 2:20And my own limits are the limits
that I set for myself. -
2:20 - 2:23Alternative thinking has made it
that I can reach my dream. -
2:23 - 2:25And I hope that some day
by alternative thinking -
2:25 - 2:29I can be a part of a greater dream
to create positive solutions -
2:29 - 2:32for the rest of the world
-
2:32 - 2:37(Applause)
- Title:
- What Box? - Alex Knudson at TEDx Homer
- Description:
-
Alex Knudson at TEDxHomer 2011 Heart Matters - Talks about how a boy, labeled as a bad student, became an entrepreneur in his home town in Alaska.
- Video Language:
- English
- Team:
- closed TED
- Project:
- TEDxTalks
- Duration:
- 02:45
Ivana Korom edited English subtitles for What Box? - Alex Knudson at TEDx Homer | ||
Elisabeth Buffard approved English subtitles for What Box? - Alex Knudson at TEDx Homer | ||
Elisabeth Buffard approved English subtitles for What Box? - Alex Knudson at TEDx Homer | ||
Elisabeth Buffard edited English subtitles for What Box? - Alex Knudson at TEDx Homer | ||
Elisabeth Buffard edited English subtitles for What Box? - Alex Knudson at TEDx Homer | ||
Elisabeth Buffard edited English subtitles for What Box? - Alex Knudson at TEDx Homer | ||
Elisabeth Buffard edited English subtitles for What Box? - Alex Knudson at TEDx Homer | ||
Elisabeth Buffard edited English subtitles for What Box? - Alex Knudson at TEDx Homer |