Translator: Jennifer Rubio The last time that I used a flip phone was three hours and 24 minutes ago. This is my phone. It flips open like so. A lot of people might call
this flip phone design, an "old phone," as someone
at the airport security called it. I was like "No, I just bought this!" I just got my first phone ever
this September, just four months ago,
when I had to get a phone, because I was going off to college,
and I needed to make long distance calls. Let's get this straight for a minute. I'm 18 years old,
and I've never had a phone. And I've been very privileged to live on the beautiful island
of Vancouver Island where everyone
there basically has phones, that means I lived through all
of high school and middle school without a phone. Carrying around a flip phone is not
conventionally considered nowadays as being a "cool kid,"
but I'm here to tell you today that carrying a flip phone
at the age of 18 definitely defines you as a "cool kid." So, my name is Ann Makosinski;
I'm 18 years old; I'm from Canada. And I suppose you could
call me an inventor. It's actually funny
because when I was a kid, I actually identified
with the term "differentist," which was something that I made up, which is where I just
wanted to be different, and even though it may not appear
that I am a "differentist" nowadays - I dress like everyone else,
I talk like everyone else - I was actually almost, in a way,
trained from the get-go to be different. So how was I trained
"to be different" as a kid, was that my parents never gave me
that many toys at all. I didn't have a Tamagotchi, a Nintendo,
a Wii, an Xbox, nothing. What they gave me,
however, was a hot glue gun, and I had to make my own toys. That's where the first area of me
was almost being put in a position, or almost forced to be in a position
where I had to be creative in solving one of the first problems
you ever have as a kid which is how to keep yourself entertained. (Video) Ann Makosinski: This invention
was my second invention, and it is called "Creation." The one I just showed you
is called "Invention" because that's the first one I made. Now this one: you see this flat one? It's posed, so he can sit down on him. Or I can sit down on him, Creation. But I don't sit very long
because he can break. (On stage) AM: That was my first
experience with creating things. Other than not being given
that many toys, some toys that I was given were a bit odd
compared to my friends' toys and actually here's a photo of me
playing with my first set of toys which was a box of transistors
and electronic components. It was really from the start here that I was introduced to the world
of making things with my hands, which I feel is a skill that's almost
being lost in some areas nowadays as actually becoming
quite high in demand for jobs if you can actually do things
instead of typing all the time. So, I was always making things
and being engaged. As a kid, I wasn't allowed out very much
on playdates and things like that, until I had finished all my chores
and practiced my piano - I'm sure lots of you can relate. My parents came
from different backgrounds. One was from Poland
and the other from the Philippines. It's funny because a lot
of parents come up to me and they're genuinely very concerned about whether they should give
their kids toys or not. What I generally advise -
not that I'm an expert - is that if as long as you don't
give your kid this many toys, I think you'll be okay, but what I found
was that creativity, for me, and making things
was born out of a necessity, because I didn't have
that many things to play with. I really think it's important
to encourage your kids because I know as parents you want
to give your kids the world, to give them everything you have. My dad was a skateboarder back in the day,
and when I was, I think 13 or 14, I was like, "Oh well, I want to learn
how to skateboard and be cool." And I was just given a skateboard. It is still sitting
in my room in the corner, and I have never touched it. What happened was
that I was just like, "Cool! I got a skateboard,
I can skateboard now," and I just left it. If I had been given,
for example, just the wheels, and then I had to get a little job,
and work for it, do chores around the house,
get an allowance, save up, design the board
and then put it all together, I would have valued
that whole experience so much more that I would actually probably
be a pro skateboarder by now or something like that. So I think it's really important
when you're in your younger years for people to encourage you
in your passions but not to give you everything
to give you that head start. Because I wasn't given many toys,
I got entertained by almost anything. I think I'm smelling a rock here,
I was a pretty insightful kid. I have to be honest with you and say that I'm not very "culturally"
educated in some aspects. For example, I was brought up watching
a lot of 1920s and 1930s films. I've never watched Star Wars or Star Trek. Don't kill me, it's just not
something that I've watched. For some reason, this fact of just not
having a phone, as a teenager, limited my time talking with people. But I never felt like, "Oh my God,
I'm missing out by not having a phone." And, as some teenagers here
may know, it's called "FOMO," which is: Fear Of Missing Out. I never had that because
I was so content with what I was given and how much more I had to pursue. So, what did I do in my spare time? Well, when I was in middle school, I was definitely not what you would
consider a "cool kid." I was not the person who would be like,
"I also want to hang out with them." Because first of all,
in middle school and high school you are really judged a lot, and I was very unconfident,
at first, of how I appeared. I had short hair, glasses, braces.
I dressed in guys' clothes. I didn't have the coolest stuff. People would come up to me and be like,
"Oh, what a handsome boy you are!" and I'd be like, "Thanks!"
and just walk away. So, I was definitely quite a loner, but I did look up
to some people in my life. While a lot of teens had modern pop stars,
actresses or actors they looked up to - which I totally respect
and I have some too - who I looked up to was a little different,
and I couldn't always relate with them. For example, my family has the privilege of helping out
with Ravi Shankar's archives. Ravi Shankar was a musician who brought the whole Indian culture
and music from the East to the West in the 60s and 70s, and really helped
generate the hippie movement. He worked with George Harrison. We had the privilege as a kid,
to travel to California, and each summer, I would learn from him,
and learn how his love and passion for what he was doing, bringing in
and introducing it to people who had never seen
any of this stuff before. It was something that he loved so much. That really inspired me and one time,
we went and visited his family in India. I was so shocked
by the poverty there. That was the first time I had ever
experienced something like that, and I was around eight years old then.
It was a huge shock. Another time, we went and visited
some family in the Philippines, and I saw houses like this, which you don't see regularly
where I come from, in Canada. I was just so taken aback. I didn't fit in; I knew there were
problems in the world, and I wanted to find a way
to fix it simply. But I never thought I could
accomplish any of that because I was just a regular teen
who nobody really seemed to like except for a couple
of outcast friends I also had. So, the two things my parents
noticed that I loved to do was to tinker and to talk. So I was enrolled in something that a lot
of popular kids in high school do - just kidding - which is the Science Fair. So, this is me in grade six.
I looked like Harry Potter. I was very proud
of this project by the way. I was comparing laundry detergents. So, I started making projects, and I started to get into the area
of energy harvesting. I had the inspiration for my project
when one of my friends in the Philippines told me that she failed
her grade in school because she couldn't afford electricity. She didn't have any light
to study with at night. This brought me back to my childhood days
where I had a problem that, in the beginning, was for myself:
to find a way to entertain myself. So, I'd make my own inventions
and my own toys. But here was a problem
that my friend had, and I was like, "Well, why can't I invent a way
to maybe help her out?" So for that, I made something that you may know me for,
as "The Flashlight Girl," which is a flashlight that runs
on the heat of the human hand. That brought me
to a whole new journey where I suddenly learned
to be confident in who I was, because at first, to be honest, I didn't think anyone would
ever be interested in my project. To go to places like the Google Science
Fair, and Intel, was absolutely amazing, to see that people were really
inspired by what I was doing. This year I presented my latest invention,
which is called "the eDrink." It's a coffee mug that utilizes
the excess heat of your hot drink while you're waiting for it to cool down,
and converts it into electricity. So you can eventually
charge your phone or iPod from it. Just because you're in college,
and that you're a "university student" does not mean that's
the only thing you are. That does not mean that like,
"You know, I'm in university." You leave it at that,
not doing anything else. You can pursue whatever you want to do,
and start when you're in high school. When I was in middle school,
I started making stuff with electronics. You can do whatever you want.
Anything you can dream of is possible. But you have to start and work on it
even if it's just 20 minutes a day. That's what I really wanted
to emphasize today is that you have more opportunity
and time to create when you have less. When you're given less to start off with, your brain is designed to come up
with different ways to solve your problems and to solve other people's
problems and issues. I think that's so important to emphasize,
especially in today's society where excess,
like buying this and getting that, "That's the latest fashion,
I should be wearing that, and throw out
everything else that I have," is kind of the trend. I really think in a way that's going
to sound slightly controversial but I truly believe that disconnecting
helps you connect and create more. You don't think about it,
but you'll pick up your phone, you'll check it a couple seconds
or a minute, ever so often, you think, "I'm briefly
checking my phone." But if you add up every single minute,
every single second you spend on your phone per day,
it's pretty terrifying. Really minimizing your distractions, so you can use your time
most effectively is really important. If there is one thing
I can leave you with today, for all of you who possess phones
or even other small electronic devices, it is that the next time
you pick up your phone, think of all the possibilities
"off" your phone and not "on" it. Thank you. (Applause)
Everyone is always promoting getting rid of something to increase productivity or quality of life, but moderation really is key. How are you not going to permit yourself to always have access to near limitless amounts of knowledge and tools just because the possibility of not using said device may make you a little more creative?
Ann Makosinski seems to be a bright, confident, and well supported young lady.
However, I feel that it was more her environment and opportunities that let her exercise her creativity.
Not having support and resources hurts creativity. I argue uf Ann was in an unsupported and low resource environment, she would not be where she is today. Also, I also acknowledge not every kid will seize opportunity when presented.
This is strangely cut. The jumps don't feel seamless.
I think if she had just got some wheels, she would have made a pretty shitty skateboard with her trusty gluegun.
She is quite impressive. She has some practical inventions.
Yay, a speech about not using a device that the majority of this videos views will come from.
No thanks.