Peony is approaching one of those moments when the future begins to feel close. In Year 12, with university no longer far off, she already knows that Europe is where she wants to be. 

Although the destination feels certain, the path itself, as with most students at this stage, is still taking shape.

With A levels in politics, economics and psychology, she finds herself pulled towards both law and international relations, and for now, she is letting both possibilities stay open. 

After earlier Immerse programmes introduced her to both subjects, she is now looking for something deeper: the confidence, clarity and perspective to understand which direction feels most like her own.

Why Public Speaking Matters Beyond One Career Path 

One of the gaps in traditional education is that students can spend years mastering content without ever being taught how to speak with real confidence. 

GCSEs and A levels reward knowledge, discipline and written performance, but they do not always leave much space for developing the ability to hold a room, persuade an audience or make an idea memorable. 

Peony understands that, and while weighing law against international relations, she sees public speaking as something more universal. “I think it would be helpful no matter what,” she says, and in that sense TED Summer School offers not a niche skill, but one that will stay valuable whichever future she chooses.

How TED Summer School Complements Academic Study 

That is what makes TED Summer School feel like such a purposeful next step. Peony is not moving away from law or international relations, she is adding something both subjects depend on.

Earlier Immerse programmes introduced her to the academic side of both fields, giving her the theories, arguments and evidence that serious study demands, while TED offers the other half of the picture: how to shape those ideas into something people can follow, remember and respond to. 

As she puts it, “TED is for the storytelling and law is kind of for the facts” and in that distinction lies the appeal, with one developing what you know and the other strengthening how you share it.

Communication & Public Speaking

In-person

Find your voice and build on your public...

TED Summer School
Ages: 15-18

Communication & Public Speaking

In-person

Develop ideas with impact in New York, a...

TED Summer School
Ages: 15-18

From Scripted Speaking to Real Confidence 

What makes the programme especially well timed is that Peony is not arriving as a complete beginner. 

She already feels comfortable speaking in front of others and, by her own account, is naturally extroverted, but she is also honest about the limits of that confidence. “I tend to have scripted before presenting myself,” she says, recognising that speaking well is not always the same as speaking freely. 

What she wants from TED Summer School is not simply more time on stage, but a shift in how she communicates: less dependence on preparation, more trust in her own voice, and a stronger ability to connect with a bigger audience. 

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Looking Ahead with Greater Clarity and Confidence 

For Peony, the value of this summer lies not only in what it might confirm, but in what it allows her to discover. 

At a stage when so much still feels undecided, TED Summer School gives Peony a way to explore those possibilities more fully through voice, presence and connection with others.

Whether she chooses law, international relations or another path, she is building skills and relationships that will stay with her for life.