What does art, science, and the brain have in common? Everything. In sixth grade, when middle school bullies and crushes seem to be the only thing on everyone’s minds, Sydney was finding a way to solve one of the National Academy of Engineering’s fourteen Grand Challenges of the 21st century; Reverse Engineering the Brain.

Her journey to this unusual point was even more peculiar, as it did not begin with engineering, math and science, but with Sydney’s love of music. Her passion fueled her research in labs across the country, and led her to become plugged into the scientific community at large. It was then that she realized her unique position. A young, black, Christian, music-loving girl in attendance at national STEM conferences was definitely not the norm. Rather than letting this deter her, Sydney made it her mission to show the world that the best teams for solving national challenges, would be teams filled with diverse minds from diverse backgrounds. 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