December Newsletter
What I've been up to this month
About Me! 👋
Hey! I’m Peyton, a 16y/o who is super passionate about making an impact on the world 🌎. A little bit about me, I am an Innovator at TKS, very interested in business and entrepreneurship (in fact, I have even founded two start-ups) and I’m a triple threat. 🎭💃🎶
December has been a month filled with realization, relaxation and recharging. Keep on reading to see what I’ve been up to these past 31 days.
The Knowledge Society 🚀
Fourth month down at the Knowledge Society ✅ and I’ve been enjoying every minute of it! For those of you who are not familiar with this program, let me fill you in. TKS is a 10-month long human accelerator designed to train teenagers to solve the world's biggest problems through training in emerging technologies and mindsets. 🦄
This month started with a virtual “Global Session” with Innovators from all over the world (175+ cities to be exact 😯). I thoroughly enjoyed this session as I got to connect with, learn and gain insight from teens doing the exact same program as me, but just in another part of the globe. 🌎
For the following two weekends we dove into gene editing, the companies at the forefront of innovation, a hands-on simulation, along with discussing the implications and ethics surrounding technologies such as CRISPR-Cas9. 🧬 Looking forward to what the sessions in the new year will bring!
3 🔑 takeaways this month:
Authenticity is your own superpower. You’ll see far more personal growth when you are being your true, authentic self.
When you celebrate or shout out those around you, you hold the ability to make them feel good, appreciated and special. Exactly what our world needs more of and in doing so, you don’t even lose anything.
Learn to think for yourself, that is when you'll actually be able to understand something. Don't just follow the crowd.
Switching Focuses 🔁
During TKS, Innovators choose a technology or science to gain a deeper understanding through the process of completing a focus. This month I made the decision to switch focuses, from Blockchain ➔ Future of Food 🥬🥕🌱 As I was doing the explore module I could quite literally feel my curiosity beaming and was instantly interested in learning more about all things agriculture and food tech related. For those of you who do not know, Explores are made for TKS students to quite literally explore a new topic, gain insights and knowledge through articles and videos on a technology. That being said, I am still very interested in Blockchain and plan to combine both focuses at some point in the future.
Check it out!
The first step in the focus process is writing a Learn Article, in order to gain a technical understanding of your topic. 📝 I wrote about a problem I am extremely passionate about, food insecurity, more specifically within my very own country. 🇨🇦 Grocery store food prices in Nunavut are three times higher compared to the rest of Canada, crazy right?! Resulting in 70% of Nunavut's residents facing food insecurity, a rate that is eight times higher than the Canadian average. In this article I also talk about a possible solution to this huge issue, including Arctic farming practices such as vertical farming and current projects within the space.
Goals and What to Expect in January:
Start and complete my Apply (creating a simulation or performing a hands-on experiment) for my focus 👩🏼🌾
Have 4️⃣+ external meetings with leaders in the future of food industry
Make my personal website - have it up and running for next month 💻
Read Atlas of the Heart by Brené Brown, a book all about mapping meaningful connection and the language of human experience 📖
Stay consistent with time blocking my days in order to maximize my time and increase productivity ⏳
As I am writing this on New Year’s eve, I want to wish you a year filled with happiness, innovation, success, and health. Whatever this year brings, remember that we’re all in this together. Happy New Year and stay tuned for next month!
Feel free to connect with me on LinkedIn ➔ https://www.linkedin.com/in/peyton-verhoeven-661a53185
Follow me on Medium ➔ https://medium.com/@peytonverhoeven