Lauren McLeish is a Year 8 student at St Hilda's School on the Gold Coast, Queensland, Australia. Lauren is a boarder at St Hilda's and comes from a farming community in rural Karara, Queensland. In the spirit of ideas worth spreading, TEDx is a program of local, self-organized events that bring people together to share a TED-like experience. At a TEDx event, TEDTalks video and live speakers combine to spark deep discussion and connection in a small group. These local, self-organized events are branded TEDx, where x = independently organized TED event. The TED Conference provides general guidance for the TEDx program, but individual TEDx events are self-organized.* (*Subject to certain rules and regulations)