{"id":3163,"date":"2018-02-10T16:32:44","date_gmt":"2018-02-10T16:32:44","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.uri.edu\/harrington-draft\/?p=3163"},"modified":"2018-02-10T16:32:44","modified_gmt":"2018-02-10T16:32:44","slug":"uri-student-speaks-at-university-hosted-ted-talk","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/web.uri.edu\/harrington\/news\/2018\/02\/10\/uri-student-speaks-at-university-hosted-ted-talk\/","title":{"rendered":"Aria Mia Loberti"},"content":{"rendered":"<h2>URI Student Speaks at University Hosted TED Talk<\/h2>\n<p>At 11 years old, Aria Mia Loberti decided she would give a TED talk one day. That may seem like an unusual wish for such a young girl, but Loberti has never been ordinary.<\/p>\n<p>Loberti attended a public elementary school that did not accept or accommodate her disability. Legally blind, Loberti said her experience with public schools was disappointing. Administrators did not allow her to use her cane, and students bullied her for being different. This lead to homeschooling, where she found a love for TED talks.<\/p>\n<p>\u201cI vividly remember at age 11, my mom trying to find a TED talk that would relate to whatever I was learning that day,\u201d said Loberti. \u201cWe ended up watching numerous talks together.\u201d<\/p>\n<p>Now, thanks to the University of Rhode Island, Loberti has been granted her wish. A sophomore and triple major in communication studies, philosophy, and political science, Loberti graced the TED stage on Feb. 10, 2018, accompanied by her guide dog, Ingrid.<\/p>\n<p>Her talk, \u201c<a href=\"https:\/\/www.uri.edu\/tedx\/talks\/aria-mia-loberti-the-power-of-solidarity-and-silence\/\">The Power of Solidarity and Silence<\/a>,\u201d goes beyond growing up with a disability.&nbsp;<\/p>\n<p>\u201cThe message I want to get across is that you need to be confident enough to stand up for yourself,\u201d she said, \u201cbut also surround yourself with people who will support you.\u201d<\/p>\n<p>At first, Loberti felt there was no point in her auditioning for the talk, fearing that she would never get one of the 14 speaker positions. She met with coordinator, Paula McGlasson, to discuss the possibility of coaching the speakers instead.<\/p>\n<p>\u201cI figured at least this way I would be able to be a part of the event, even if I didn\u2019t get to speak,\u201d said Loberti.<br \/>\nMcGlasson had other plans for Loberti: She told her to go to the auditions and try.<\/p>\n<p>\u201cI was fairly relaxed as I didn\u2019t think of it as a real audition,\u201d she said. \u201cI didn\u2019t think I had a chance. The next thing I know I had made it through to the next round and then the next round.\u201d<\/p>\n<p>Loberti said she was nervous about the talk but also excited. She is no stranger to public speaking. At age seven, she spoke in front of the Rhode Island State House and throughout her high school years she participated in \u201cIgnite,\u201d a miniature TED program.<\/p>\n<p>Loberti and Ingrid led off the event, from 1 to 6 p.m., Feb. 10 in the Beaupre Center for Chemical and Forensic Sciences Building on URI\u2019s Kingston campus. The event was sold out, but thankfully, Loberti received one complimentary ticket for her mother so they can share the experience.<\/p>\n<p>\u201cThe talk is on my dad\u2019s birthday so my mom told him to take the ticket,\u201d said Loberti. \u201cBut he said my mom should be the one to see it\u2013in person.\u201d<\/p>\n<div class=\"oembed oembed-youtube-com\" style=\"\" data-url=\"https:\/\/www.youtube.com\/watch?time_continue=2&#038;v=_cyNdpBhzcM\"><iframe loading=\"lazy\" width=\"1000\" height=\"563\" src=\"https:\/\/www.youtube.com\/embed\/_cyNdpBhzcM?feature=oembed\" frameborder=\"0\" allow=\"autoplay; encrypted-media\" allowfullscreen><\/iframe><\/div>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>At 11 years old, Aria Mia Loberti decided she would give a TED talk one day. That may seem like an unusual wish for such a young girl, but Loberti has never been ordinary.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1338,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_acf_changed":false,"footnotes":"","_links_to":"","_links_to_target":""},"categories":[12],"tags":[27],"class_list":["post-3163","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-news","tag-communication-studies"],"acf":[],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/web.uri.edu\/harrington\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/3163","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/web.uri.edu\/harrington\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/web.uri.edu\/harrington\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/web.uri.edu\/harrington\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/1338"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/web.uri.edu\/harrington\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=3163"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/web.uri.edu\/harrington\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/3163\/revisions"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/web.uri.edu\/harrington\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=3163"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/web.uri.edu\/harrington\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=3163"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/web.uri.edu\/harrington\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=3163"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}