Alana talks about how both gender and ethnic stereotypes stood as impediments in her journey to self-fulfillment. Rising above these difficulties, she talks about her road to journalism when everyone thought she should be a scientist or mathematician.

Alana Joldersma is a rising freshman at the University of California Davis. In her high school career, she excelled in many activities, earning the titles as co-project manager for her robotics team, co-captain of the golf team, and section leader of the orchestra. In her TED talk, she will be speaking about how racial stereotyping affected what she wished to pursue and exploring the idea of defining yourself under the pressure of societal standards.

This talk was given at a TEDx event using the TED conference format but independently organized by a local community. Learn more at http://ted.com/tedx