Eight-hundred high school students from Brantford, County of Brant and Six Nations of the Grand River attended the 2024 Vision in the Future conference at Wilfrid Laurier University’s Brantford campus on Wednesday, April 1, 2024.

The second ever STEAM (science, technology, engineering, arts and mathematics) based event provided secondary school students with a first-hand look at several learning and career pathways.

The event kicked off with keynote speaker Sam Demma, co-founder of PickWaste, best-selling author and popular public speaker, followed by a host of workshops and seminars lead by employers, educational and community organizations, that explored developing technologies, encouraged collaboration, and challenged the teens to think about how they could make the world a better place.

Demma, who walked on stage with a comically large backpack, a symbol of carrying the weight of the thoughts and opinions of other people on your back, said that he had several goals for his presentation.

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One, to remind the students that they have a backpack and to help them let go of it by working to identify the things that they need to get rid of. And two, to remind them that every single human being also has a backpack and that they should be treated with kindness and respect.

“People’s words about you, don’t define your self-worth. You and I don’t have to live our lives carrying around the negative thoughts and opinions that society and other people place on our shoulders,” he said.

“…I believe every single one of us have a backpack like this strapped to our shoulders and that it’s invisible from the day we were born to the day we pass away. You and I go through life and we have unique experiences which change the beliefs that we carry and some of the beliefs in our backpack are negative, their limiting and they weigh us down, they stop us from making the impact we’re supposed to create in our lives.”

Demma also spoke about how there is power in small consistent actions, and that if you don’t know where to start, the first step is following through with the promises you make to yourself.

This full story can be found on our content partner, The Brant Beacon.