with you all today this is actually my
first TED event ever so despite the
smile and actually really really scared
right now I’m here today to share with
you all what I’ve been doing now for the
last year it’s a story of learning of
forging connections with incredible
people and most importantly it’s a story
of bamboo bicycles this tale begins with
a problem one that’s both big and small
in nature there are a lot of bad things
going on in our world today global
climate change looms large is perhaps
the greatest threat we have ever faced
and the aftermath of this election it is
clear to see that there’s more that
divides and unites us in America as
individuals and particularly as a young
person coming of age in this time period
the challenges we face can feel
insurmountable what is the point of even
trying this sensation the sense of
helplessness and passivity and the
disconnect that accompanies it these are
the challenges that I want to talk about
today I’m naturally a pretty introverted
person into high school I struggled to
forge connections with those around me
even as someone outwardly social I was
on the crew team and friendly with many
people I didn’t always feel as though
these relationships were that genuine
and that’s I considered complex issues
from you know who was going out with
who’d this past election I often felt
powerless even when I got by this
initial sensation and tried to tackle a
problem
I would think in huge terms and end up
never completing what I set out to do my
solution was to wall myself off from
those around me and as inconspicuous a
manner as possible but in doing so I
realized that I was ignoring the problem
to be an active part of the solution I
would need to build a bridge rather than
during my sophomore year of high school
I spend the semester studying abroad in
China I had a great time and as I neared
the end of my stay I began to think
about ways in which I could incorporate
my experience back into life in
brookline wall abroad I met David Wang
an alum from my high school and the
founder of bamboo bicycles Beijing or
BBB located in the traditional alleyways
of Beijing BBB offers two-day workshops
teaching participants how to build their
own bicycle out of bamboo the goal is to
rebuild the city’s bike culture seeing
the workshop space these vehicles in the
way people interacted with each other
they’re kindled an interest in here that
refused to disappear what would it be
like to see one of these bikes and
fenway on the common or perhaps riding
down Beacon Street back in Boston I
reached out to David who had also
returned to continue his education he
told me how he hoped to run a bike
building workshop at MIT over their
winter term and how he was looking for a
partner to help organize and lend a hand
at the workshop I jumped at the
opportunity soon and I was researching
where to buy bamboo in the US speaking
with suppliers I learned how bamboo can
grow to maturity in just four years how
it’s so strong that it’s been used as
scaffolding throughout much of Asia and
how it can grow almost anywhere in the
world
I even connected to connected with and
spoke to the president of the American
bamboo Society and yeah there’s an
American bamboo Society who would have
known at that point I was excited by the
big picture enamored with these sexy
bikes and the idea of a social
enterprise but I still didn’t really
know almost anything about building a
bamboo bicycle in January I finally got
to participate in my first workshop
seeing these vehicles begin to take
shape I finally began to realize what
building your own bicycle is all about
at the beginning of a workshop a nervous
group of people ranging in age
experience and values come together
there’s that awkward
– that can only be associated with the
first day at any job or school we all
know it but over the course of those two
days something remarkable happens people
get dirty sawdust on pants gluey hands
they begin to talk and collaborate while
building my bike they make mistakes and
then work to find solutions seeing this
I realized that you build more than just
a personalized and in my opinion crazy
cool bicycle over the course of two days
the process itself provides a platform
for people to come together and create
meaningful and powerful connections in
addition to this sense of community the
process of building gives individuals a
sense of competence and confidence you
just built your own bicycle with these
very two hands if you can create your
own vehicle you can do anything I was
hooked
soon after I began coordinating with
David and took a larger role in
organizing our next workshop I located a
space the Brooklyn Teen Center ordered
supplies and managed advertising in
April we ran another successful workshop
building for more bamboo bikes I also
joined Aven and a team of individuals
who had all been touched by these bikes
and applied for MIT ideas global
challenge grant to fund a fellowship
program at the bamboo bicycles Beijing
workshop over the summer we won and all
of a sudden I had a ticket back to China
look for Jim yet to be honest I was
still just kind of faking it all as
David would tell me the next step was
simply to build my own bamboo bike but
this wasn’t simple for me I didn’t know
how to build a bike I had never made
anything in my life before I never even
used a saw before that first workshop in
January when I first attempted to build
my bike following our April workshop I
would constantly stall every time I
didn’t know precisely what to do I was
afraid to make mistakes yet refused to
reach out and seek help or ask questions
that bicycle which should have taken me
two days to build stretched into a
three-month project that’s I fiddled and
fascinated unsure of what step to take
next building it required me to rewire
my own brain it required me to start
asking questions to problem-solve with
my mind and hands and to create an
object that had only ever dreamed of
before when it turned out that I had
made a mistake while reinforcing the
bike’s strength and would have to throw
it away I was utterly devastated but I
took that failure in stride and upon my
arrival to Beijing in June I learned not
only how to build my own bamboo bicycle
but how to teach others to build their
own as well in Beijing not only did I
gain skills I had never had before I met
incredible people who demonstrated to me
that taking ownership of your own
bicycle that extends outward and how
about taking this small initial action
building a bamboo bicycle people feel
emboldened to think creatively about
challenges act on their ideas and then
share this with others Don Gow a young
woman from northern China came to the
internationally flavored bamboo bicycles
Beijing a couple years before I did she
didn’t know any English and had never
even ridden a bicycle before but the
workshop space and everything involved
in it just made sense to her now not
only does Don Gow have literally the
coolest bamboo bicycle ever
she’s also the workshop manager in
Beijing over the summer Don guy was my
greatest inspiration her willingness to
challenge herself by coming in with
literally zero bicycle experience and no
English skills had a huge impact on me a
student in both bike building and
Mandarin I saw the impact that building
your own bicycle can have on individuals
lives
Sonny created a community mural jason
built a bamboo stress tester Karen began
soldering her own bike light seeing
these awesome projects I realized that
what attracted me to bamboos bicycles
had changed no longer was it the sex
appeal of these bikes or the idea of a
social enterprise rather it was the
ability to teach others when I can share
this creative process with others and
connect using bamboo bicycles that is
when value is added already we’ve begun
to see huge development in Boston since
I reached out to David a year ago we’ve
taught over 40 people and built 22
bamboo bikes we partnered with the
Brooklyn Teen Center and several other
incredible teens to create that first
communal multifunctional makerspace
designed by and for Brooklyn youth right
down the road
projects in the space range from
engineering classes led by high school
students for middle schoolers to Lego
robotics a greenhouse and of course bike
building right now you might be
wondering what’s the point of this talk
why would this kid who’s trying to
balance bike building with school and
maybe squeeze in his college
applications on the side take on a TED
talk I mean you guys are pretty
frightening if you must know and I’d
like to answer that with a short story
in Beijing this past summer I lived with
my good friend Jason Hong pictured here
in this two room apartment and we loved
the space but it was also kind of
falling apart a little bit anyway
I wake up one morning and I hear this
banging sound and I can’t find Jason
anywhere and as it turned out he gotten
up earlier in the morning to go to the
bathroom and shutting the door behind
him the handle had gotten jammed and
he’d been locked inside for I don’t know
like maybe an hour I was asleep so I
have no idea so there we were 7:00 in
the morning
bleary-eyed I was on one side in my PJs
Jason was on the other side in his
tighty whities and we were beginning to
freak out do we call David do we call
the police
what could we possibly do and that’s
when I realized we didn’t need anyone
else we could take action ourselves
looking around I located the few tools
we did have our just at our disposal and
then working together Jason and I
basically unhinged the entire frame from
the door and freedom the hug that
followed was the best one ever just so
you guys now my point is that building
your own bicycle empowers individuals to
take agency over their own lives and
action in their communities it allows
participants to think creatively
and connect with others despite receive
differences and so now I’d like to
invite you all to join me together
let’s concentrate on the small actions
together
let’s turn bamboo bicycles Boston from
an idea into a reality one bike at a
time thank you all so much [Applause]