Kiwi Pi (First Speech - Introductory Speech)

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Hi, my name is Jayden Yang and by now you’ve probably made at least one judgment about me, even if you weren’t conscious about it. It might’ve been about pi, it might’ve been about how geeky I look, or where I’m going with this statement. I am sure though that not one person in this room thought about kiwis, because today, I’m focused on kiwi pi.

First, we need to talk about the kiwi, not the fruit, not the bird, but the people of New Zealand.  But to connect the kiwi to me, my background needs explaining.  I run into this particular peculiar problem when people ask me where I’m from because I am unsure of the answer they’re looking for. This question can go in many different directions. Are they asking about where my parents are from, where I grew up, where I was born or my citizenship?

This is a difficult question because each answer is very different. I can happily tell you that my parents are from South Korea, I grew up here in London, I was born in Auckland, New Zealand and that I am a dual citizen of Canada and New Zealand.

Since I am from New Zealand, my friends all commonly know me as the kiwi.

This leads me back to the first 32 digits of pi that I recited. As some of you might have figured out, I’m a bit of a geek. I study computer science; I know about the latest technology and I try to get my hands on the newest trends in the tech world. This watch called the pebble for example is linked to my phone via Bluetooth and I receive notifications about calls, texts and emails on it. If you ever give me a call, I’ll know through my watch. To me pieces of technology like this are fascinating.

There is more to my interest in technology than just that though. I find technology to be very similar to human beings. Human beings grow based on the work of their predecessors and on top of that, they reach unexpected new heights. Computers improve from their previous versions and continue to be upgraded in infinite ways.

Together with the kiwi in the background and the geek in the pi, I’ve explained who I am. And if you ever need to describe me in two words, kiwi pi does it perfectly.