My Favorite Color is Gray | Tyra Curran | Ivy Tech University, Student Symposium 2025
Tyra Curran
[{'start': '1.120', 'end': '10.000', 'text': "I know. Shouldn't I be standing? The moment\xa0\nI chose to sit down, some part of the room"}, {'start': '10.000', 'end': '17.200', 'text': 'stood up with expectation. What should a\xa0\nspeaker do? What should I be doing right'}, {'start': '17.200', 'end': '25.200', 'text': "now? But according to who? In some ways you're\xa0\nright- most speakers are standing, but today,"}, {'start': '25.200', 'end': '29.920', 'text': 'I want to do something different. I\xa0\nwant to challenge your perception.'}, {'start': '29.920', 'end': '37.120', 'text': 'I want to break down what we think the truth\xa0\nshould look like. Sometimes it sits quietly-'}, {'start': '37.120', 'end': '43.360', 'text': "waiting to be seen differently. I'm sitting\xa0\nhere today because I believe in meeting you at"}, {'start': '43.360', 'end': '50.480', 'text': "eye level. I want us to engage with the idea that\xa0\nreality isn't always as we see it to be. It's not"}, {'start': '50.480', 'end': '57.200', 'text': 'always clearcut- black or white, right or wrong-\xa0\nand my hope is that by the end of this talk,'}, {'start': '57.200', 'end': '64.560', 'text': "you'll walk away willing to engage with the messy,\xa0\nuncomfortable, and sometimes contradictory gray"}, {'start': '64.560', 'end': '78.640', 'text': 'areas that are often brushed aside in favor of our\xa0\nown perception. Now I want to show you something.'}, {'start': '78.640', 'end': '86.800', 'text': "These shoes? They don't belong to you, but they\xa0\nbelong to someone. Someone with a past, a hope,"}, {'start': '86.800', 'end': '95.520', 'text': 'a failure, a scar. Someone who raised a child\xa0\nalone. Someone who never got to say goodbye.'}, {'start': '95.520', 'end': '102.640', 'text': "Someone who made a mistake, or carried a secret,\xa0\nor lived a life you wouldn't trade places with-"}, {'start': '102.640', 'end': '109.520', 'text': "but here's the truth: when we look at a pile like\xa0\nthis, we often forget that each shoe represents a"}, {'start': '109.520', 'end': '115.360', 'text': 'different journey- a different perspective.\xa0\nTo truly understand the human experience,'}, {'start': '115.360', 'end': '121.520', 'text': "we can't just put ourselves in someone\xa0\nelse's shoes. We must be them in their"}, {'start': '121.520', 'end': '129.440', 'text': 'shoes to see what they see, and feel what they\xa0\ncarry, to even begin to make a connection.'}, {'start': '130.960', 'end': '138.240', 'text': 'Good morning and thank you for the opportunity\xa0\nto be here today. My name is Tyra Curran. I am a'}, {'start': '138.240', 'end': '144.480', 'text': 'student of social work, an aspiring mental\xa0\nhealth therapist, a mother, a survivor,'}, {'start': '144.480', 'end': '153.120', 'text': 'and someone who has lived in the spaces people\xa0\noften overlook- the in-between, the misunderstood.'}, {'start': '153.920', 'end': '161.280', 'text': '"My Favorite Color is Gray" is an invitation to\xa0\nrethink the way we approach morality, connection,'}, {'start': '161.280', 'end': '168.400', 'text': 'and reality itself. It is grounded in the\xa0\nintersection of psychology, social theory,'}, {'start': '168.400', 'end': '175.200', 'text': 'and the human experience, and it explores how\xa0\nour own perceptions can limit our capacity for'}, {'start': '175.200', 'end': '181.280', 'text': 'empathy, growth, and authentic connections\xa0\nwith ourselves and the people around us.'}, {'start': '181.280', 'end': '187.920', 'text': "This isn't just a presentation- it's a mirror.\xa0\nThis conversation is not about persuading you"}, {'start': '187.920', 'end': '196.000', 'text': 'to adopt a specific viewpoint. I invite you\xa0\nto reflect individually, and collectively,'}, {'start': '196.000', 'end': '202.480', 'text': 'on how we interpret reality, and how our\xa0\nperceptions shape our actions, our relationships,'}, {'start': '202.480', 'end': '209.440', 'text': 'and our role in society. I invite you to\xa0\nsit with discomfort, sit with contradiction,'}, {'start': '209.440', 'end': '216.400', 'text': "to sit with the pieces of ourselves in our world\xa0\nthat don't fit into black or white. Everyone, and"}, {'start': '216.400', 'end': '224.880', 'text': 'every story, exists somewhere in that pile, and\xa0\nsometimes when we sit- we see more. I am honored'}, {'start': '224.880', 'end': '232.960', 'text': 'to explore these ideas with you today and I hope\xa0\nto spark meaningful dialogue beyond this room.'}, {'start': '235.680', 'end': '242.560', 'text': 'We see that perspective- our most trusted\xa0\ntool- can actually distort reality: so,'}, {'start': '242.560', 'end': '248.320', 'text': "let's begin there. We all carry with us a\xa0\nunique perspective- a lens through which we"}, {'start': '248.320', 'end': '252.880', 'text': "see the world. This lens is shaped\xa0\nby everything we've been through,"}, {'start': '252.880', 'end': '257.520', 'text': "everything we've experienced, and everything\xa0\nwe've been taught. It's deeply personal,"}, {'start': '257.520', 'end': '263.840', 'text': "but it's not always an accurate reflection\xa0\nof reality. Our experiences, our traumas,"}, {'start': '263.840', 'end': '269.120', 'text': 'our joys, our fears- they all shape our\xa0\nperspective, and sometimes, we assume'}, {'start': '269.120', 'end': '276.400', 'text': "that what we see is what's real for everyone. We\xa0\nall experience something called cognitive bias,"}, {'start': '276.400', 'end': '285.200', 'text': 'which is the tendency to interpret the world in\xa0\na way that only confirms our existing beliefs.'}, {'start': '286.480', 'end': '292.800', 'text': "Relying solely on your own perspective doesn't\xa0\nallow us to see the full picture. Your perspective"}, {'start': '292.800', 'end': '302.720', 'text': "isn't clarity, it isn't certainty- it's familiar.\xa0\nWhat we have learned throughout our entire lives"}, {'start': '302.720', 'end': '309.520', 'text': "is what's familiar to us, which brings me to\xa0\na key point: dichotomous thinking. This is the"}, {'start': '309.520', 'end': '316.240', 'text': 'tendency to see things in black-and-white terms\xa0\nwith no middle ground. It\'s the "right or wrong",'}, {'start': '316.240', 'end': '324.400', 'text': '"good or bad", "us or them" mentality that\'s so\xa0\ningrained in our society. Restricting our minds'}, {'start': '324.400', 'end': '331.440', 'text': 'to this method of understanding means operating\xa0\nin absolutes. It\'s the difference between "I made'}, {'start': '331.440', 'end': '339.920', 'text': 'a mistake because I\'m human" versus "I made a\xa0\nmistake because I\'m stupid". Seeing everything'}, {'start': '339.920', 'end': '347.280', 'text': 'in black-and-white- this or that- disables your\xa0\nability to see everything in its totality. It'}, {'start': '347.280', 'end': '357.920', 'text': 'robs you of understanding nuance, complexity, and\xa0\nhumanity. When we resist black-and-white thinking,'}, {'start': '357.920', 'end': '365.440', 'text': 'we make space for something powerful: cognitive\xa0\nempathy. This is the ability to shift our'}, {'start': '365.440', 'end': '371.920', 'text': "perspective. It's the ability to understand and\xa0\nconsider someone else's perspective to be true"}, {'start': '371.920', 'end': '382.400', 'text': 'for them- without judgment. It\'s the moment you\xa0\nsay, "I might never live what you have lived,'}, {'start': '382.400', 'end': '394.000', 'text': 'but I hear or see what you\'ve lived, and\xa0\nI see how that impacted you." I see that.'}, {'start': '394.000', 'end': '404.080', 'text': 'And, believe it or not, our bodies are wired\xa0\nfor this! Our bodies actually respond to other'}, {'start': '404.080', 'end': '410.960', 'text': "people's pain. Neurobiologically- we mirror\xa0\neach other's emotions when we're attuned."}, {'start': '410.960', 'end': '419.120', 'text': 'WE HAVE MIRRORING NEURONS! Science. We\xa0\nare meant to be connected to each other,'}, {'start': '419.120', 'end': '428.080', 'text': 'but when we live in a world that prioritizes\xa0\nright versus wrong over real versus real,'}, {'start': '428.080', 'end': '434.960', 'text': 'we miss the opportunity to connect with\xa0\nourselves and the people around us. So,'}, {'start': '434.960', 'end': '441.440', 'text': 'I want to ask you: when was the last time\xa0\nyou truly gave someone space to be fully'}, {'start': '441.440', 'end': '448.480', 'text': 'them without fixing them, without labeling\xa0\nthem, and without trying to figure them out?'}, {'start': '450.240', 'end': '458.720', 'text': 'And when was the last time you gave that\xa0\nspace to yourself? I spent many years in'}, {'start': '458.720', 'end': '465.600', 'text': "the in-between space, and it's in that space I've\xa0\nlearned the most about myself and about what it"}, {'start': '465.600', 'end': '475.040', 'text': "means to truly see, to understand, to connect. As\xa0\nwe've discussed today, our perceptions shape how"}, {'start': '475.040', 'end': '482.160', 'text': "we see the world and how we engage with others.\xa0\nWe've learned that stepping outside of ourselves,"}, {'start': '482.160', 'end': '490.160', 'text': "understanding other people's experiences, and\xa0\nembracing complexity is key to building strong"}, {'start': '490.160', 'end': '496.880', 'text': "connections. But it's not enough just to talk\xa0\nabout it, we must actively practice it: every day,"}, {'start': '496.880', 'end': '504.240', 'text': 'in every interaction, we have the opportunity\xa0\nto challenge the limits of our own perspective.'}, {'start': '504.880', 'end': '513.120', 'text': "We have the opportunity to step into someone\xa0\nelse's shoes, and yes, even step out of our own."}, {'start': '513.120', 'end': '521.360', 'text': 'I sit here not as someone who has all the answers,\xa0\nbut as someone who has had to learn, over and over'}, {'start': '521.360', 'end': '533.040', 'text': 'again, that life will never fit neatly into the\xa0\ncategories that we crave. So, I challenge you: let'}, {'start': '533.040', 'end': '541.600', 'text': 'go of the need to always be right. Let go of the\xa0\nneed to always have the final word. Instead, make'}, {'start': '541.600', 'end': '550.000', 'text': "space for what's uncertain- for what's unknown.\xa0\nEmbrace the gray. Embrace the spaces between what"}, {'start': '550.000', 'end': '556.000', 'text': "you know and what you don't know. Let go of the\xa0\nbinary, the black-and-white thinking, and let your"}, {'start': '556.000', 'end': '563.440', 'text': "mind and heart be open to possibility. Because\xa0\nwhen you do, you'll cultivate a deeper connection"}, {'start': '563.440', 'end': '571.440', 'text': 'with those around you and with the truest parts of\xa0\nyourself. Maybe I sat at the beginning of this so'}, {'start': '571.440', 'end': '581.040', 'text': 'we could all rise by the end- with more grace,\xa0\nmore empathy, more gray. By adding my shoes to'}, {'start': '581.040', 'end': '588.240', 'text': "this pile, I'm committing to walk with you all\xa0\nin understanding- whether in your shoes or mine."}]