Rewiring Hope: From Diagnosis to a Life Reclaimed | Olivia Gega | TEDxUniversiteitVanAmsterdam
When Olivia Gega was diagnosed with a rare and aggressive form of cancer at just 23, her world collapsed into a blur of fear and disbelief. But in the silence of that devastating moment, she began to rewire her thinking — and her life. In this raw and powerful talk, Olivia shares how she turned inward, faced her darkest fears, and emerged with a new mindset. Through her personal framework — Recognise, Reframe, Switch — she invites us all to see life not as a fixed path, but as something we can consciously reshape. Her story is not just about surviving cancer — it’s about reclaiming power, presence, and the will to truly live.At just 25 years old, Olivia has lived across multiple countries, including Albania, Italy, Israel, US, and the Netherlands, constantly seeking growth and new perspectives. She began this journey at 15, moving abroad to pursue her education. After earning her bachelor’s in Business specialising in Finance and a master’s in International Business and Trade Economics in the Netherlands, she now works as an operational manager in hospitality. As a public advocate for cancer patients, Olivia has developed a cancer connect platform in Albania, sharing her journey to inspire hope and resilience. An avid paraglider since the age of 14, she balances her adventurous spirit with her dedication to animal welfare through her non-profit, which helps stray animals in need. In her TEDx talk, she will explore how we can reprogram our minds to cultivate positive scenarios and outcomes, empowering others to create brighter futures. This talk was given at a TEDx event using the TED conference format but independently organized by a local community. Learn more at https://www.ted.com/tedx
More from TED
- 18:54Reimagining Economies through AI-Powered Innovation | Gary Shiffman | TEDxGreenville SalonIn his TEDxGreenville talk, Gary Shiffman explores the disconnect between Greenville’s impressive GDP growth and its lagging real wages, highlighting South Carolina’s rank near the bottom nationally. Analyzing over a century of economic plans, he reveals the city’s consistent prioritization of growth over wages. Shiffman warns that Greenville’s labor-driven economic path is outdated in an era of AI, where capital increasingly replaces labor. He urges local leaders, educators, and entrepreneurs to act now—by building innovation labs, launching startups, and recruiting AI firms. Greenville, he argues, is ideally positioned to lead the next generation of advanced manufacturing by focusing on building happy employees. I believe that small groups of creative and dedicated people change the world. I seek to work with and to empower others working to help make our communities freer and safer in a complex, coercive, and violent world. I have served in war and traveled the world, studied Economics human behavior, and worked at the pinnacles of power in government and in industry.I co-founded two AI companies when I saw an opportunity join behavioral science with AI innovations coming from computer science to empower those on the front lines of combatting coercion, fraud, and violence in the military, law enforcement, and in financial institutions.I love to teach, write, and engage with curious people. This talk was given at a TEDx event using the TED conference format but independently organized by a local community. Learn more at https://www.ted.com/tedx
- 9:37We need ugly art — here’s why | MJ Chiao | TEDxUBCWhen we think academia, the comic book and comic form is usually overlooked as a piece of valuable literary scholarship. Comics are often presumed as not academic or critical enough to be a valid source of literary study, and if they are to be taken seriously only a certain kind of tragic, memoir style are considered worth analyzing. By arguing that ‘bad art’, ‘ugly comics’, or ‘juvenile fiction’ are necessary fragments of history to navigate the quickly developing world around us, MJ Chiao advocates for the comics form as a radical form of activism and social remembering. Ugly comics becomes survival. MJ Chiao is a fourth year English Literature student who is passionate about comics and graphic forms. With a love for teaching and writing, MJ wishes to challenge the status quo of English studies and academia to encompass the new medias and technologies of our everyday. This talk was given at a TEDx event using the TED conference format but independently organized by a local community. Learn more at https://www.ted.com/tedx
