Community, Curiosity and Connection
School of Business senior Nick Smith organized first TEDx event in 8 years to bring together students, faculty and staff
The final steps of business and technology senior Nick Smith’s Stevens’ journey will come on the commencement stage later this month, but he is prepared to carry his guiding principles — community, curiosity and connection — on whatever road comes next. These values stepped into the spotlight in the DeBaun Auditorium last month when he organized Stevens’ first TEDx event in more than eight years.
The event’s success was rooted in Nick’s commitment to strengthening student-faculty relationships and showcasing the vibrant curiosity of the Stevens community.
Finding a Community at Stevens
Nick’s college search was driven by a desire to leave the suburbs and continue his fencing career in a more metropolitan environment. Stevens quickly rose to the top of his list, not only for its well-respected fencing team and proximity to New York City, but also for its forward-thinking academic approach. “I thought what Stevens was doing was just more progressive than everywhere else. Not necessarily in political ideology, but the curriculum seemed more advanced. You get to take classes on the topic you’re interested in way sooner than other universities. I was also interested in what some of the professors were doing. It checked all my boxes.”
Once Nick got to Stevens, he wasted no time getting involved. Nick joined the fencing team, became a peer leader, engaged in research through the Inclusive Leadership Certificate Program and the Cognition Lab, and joined a fraternity.
“My experience with the fraternity taught me a lot of things. It taught me how to be a good friend. It taught me how to be a mentor. It was very one-on-one. There are people there that are very different from me that I was challenged to understand, so it was a really good experience.”
Building Bridges for Connection
Nick’s desire to foster connection extended beyond his fraternity. Despite juggling his extracurriculars, along with internships at PwC, JJELLYFISH and iA, he wanted to build bridges among student, faculty and staff across Stevens by becoming President of the Student Government Association. “That was big,” he shared reflecting on the role. “You’re interacting with a bunch of different people, and you’re creating plans, executing events. It taught me management.”
Nick’s agenda started with strengthening student-faculty relationships. Nick strongly believes intellectual curiosity is driven by an engaging, interactive classroom, not a transactional one. “I think if we had a little bit more student-faculty interaction, students would speak up more in class and would seek their professors out. I also think teaching work would be so much more meaningful.”
Encouraging Curiosity Through TEDx
To help create a space for students to understand faculty and staff better, and for faculty and staff to understand students better, Nick looked beyond the classroom. That’s where the idea for TEDx came in. “I think one way to get people to interact is around something intellectual. TED is a space that’s productive, and it’s a super recognizable name. You’re talking about an intellectual topic, but it’s still rather social.”
While putting together this event, his first priority was to ensure it drew from across the Stevens community. “That was a must,” he said. “That had to happen to be a community event.” His second priority was showcasing what research actually looks like at Stevens. “I wanted to steer people away from the stereotype that only the faculty do research here. I’m not a fan of that generalization. I think there’s plenty of staff and students who do research. I thought having different people, like a student, a staff member and a faculty member, would hopefully inspire people in the community to pursue their own research.”
Tackling the theme of “interpreting the role of research in accelerating societal good,” the event’s presenters included:
Sara Klein, Ph.D., Vice President for Student Affairs - The Case for Being a Mess
Jordan Suchow, Assistant Professor, School of Business - Coincidental Generation
Michelle Y. Burke, Teaching Assistant Professor, School of Humanities, Arts and Social Sciences - Can Gen Z Reclaim the Art of Conversation?
Erin McGee, Undergraduate Physics Students and Researcher, Charles V. Schaefer, Jr. School of Engineering & Science - Interesting Interferometry
Wei Zheng, Associate Professor and Richard R. Roscitt Chair Professor of Leadership, School of Business - How to Do Inclusion: Why It Matters and What It Looks Like
Jennifer J. Kang-Mieler, Ph.D., George Meade Bond Endowed Professor, Department Chair and Professor, Charles V. Schaefer, Jr. School of Engineering & Science - Saving Eyesight, One Injection at a Time
Nick hopes the TEDx event will spark a lasting tradition at Stevens. “We’re a talented community,” he shared. “A lot of the magic of TED is having an idea, and then you need to talk about it. I think it’s a huge hope of mine that people left thinking that they could do that exact thing, and I hope it inspired a couple of people to maybe think about a topic of their own.”
Finding Your Own Start
He credits Stevens’ willingness to adapt and grow for allowing him to bring an event like TEDx to campus. “There’s a culture of change here. That’s one the things I love about Stevens. President Farvardin has said on many occasions that higher ed gets this stereotype of being sleepy and slow. I’ve always found Stevens to be nimble, high feedback and willing to change. If there is a problem happening and you provide a suggestion that is logical and feasible, it’s probably going to happen.”
To fully take advantage of this culture, Nick explains the importance of not just speaking up but also taking action. “This is a very busy community. Don’t always give feedback with the intention of someone else executing on it. Know your stuff. Have an idea to propose and then be willing to take on the work.”
He also doesn’t want the unknown of a project or proposal to be a barrier or a missed opportunity for his peers. “I think people wait too long. I think there’s a lot of people who don’t know where to start. Pick a place to start and just try that. Try something with that thought. Be purposeful and intentional.”