Julie Dickerson

Activist, Artist, Athlete, Christian, Concerned citizen, Foodie, Idea generator, Job-seeker, Student, Writer/Editor

Hello Fellow TEDsters! I hail from the Jersey Shore and am a senior at Princeton University. I have many loves: God, art, writing, athletics, adventure, public service, comedy, the epic, and chocolate. My life mission is to serve my community, country, and the common cause of humanity in whatever capacity I can and whenever the opportunity arises. I believe in people's abilities to Imagine. Imagine a better future, a blissful recipe, a new math formula. For me, creativity (yes, even now in modern society...or according to Seth Godin, especially in modern society) as a way to touch people and change their perceptions about the world; it is an unconventional way of seeing, communicating, problem solving, and generating new ideas. Storytelling! I embrace the embarrassing, the odd, the different, and the beauty in life. Even the worst moments will make a tale that lights up someone's eyes someday somewhere. I think real solutions exist to change the world's problems; they may not be pretty but they exist just as we exist to love mankind and luxuriate in the breathtaking world given to us. There is true joy.

Random athletic endeavors: marathon, triathlon, belly dancing, any kind of dancing. Making art for other people. Nature. Food (who isn't?)! Performance. Reading. Design. Meeting new people.

Laughing at ourselves more often. And also using our natural inclination to gravitate towards beauty, entertainment, and stories to revolutionize society. Religions are based on stories that have transcended time. They live and breathe in people all over the world all the time and influence the way we act. Why can't other stories clean up our cities? Feed people? Comfort people? Art should not be a diversion from thought but a conversion of thought.

My dearest friend introduced me to TED, and I have been continually impressed, excited, and inspired with each new talk I hear. Never before have I seen so much potential energy and the willingness to make it kinetic! The conference seems to be that moment when the energy changes, when people pour into each other and create a network committed to LIFE.

Splits. Both the stretch and the ice cream type.