Asha Christensen at TEDxKids@SMU 2012

Asha's name means hope and she is full of it. Her first TED experience was from the center front row of the first ever TEDxKids @SMU when she was nine. She heckled Rives and made a friend -- he was the first spoken word poet she'd ever met. When her school announced a slam poetry competition, she was inspired. She watched a bunch of TED talks and wrote a poem about writers block. After winning the McKinney ISD District wide competition, she was too young for the prize, a slot on a team headed to Brave New Voices: a national youth poetry competition, but she is tickled to be able to perform at TEDxKids this year. Her hobbies beyond poetry are piano, cello, composing music, sketching, and bugging her sister Priya. Asha is currently 7th grader at Imagine International Academy of North Texas.

About TEDx:
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)