On Friday, Nov., TEDxCUNY came back for their second year! Through an amazing compilation of speakers we "explored the physical and socially constructed borders between peoples, places, and communities, as well as challenge[d] how borders divide and unite us. What brings people together? What pushes them away?"

TEDxCUNY describes their event in the perfect words: "Diverse in age, race, gender, ethnicity, national origin, socioeconomic status, language, and interest, the CUNY community is composed of students, faculty, and staff from every background. Not only are CUNY students advocating against the prison-industrial complex, homelessness, and domestic violence, they are also at the front lines of the legislative battle to pass the DREAM Act in New York State. CUNY people are discovering new uses for the ultrasound, and simultaneously planting the seeds for the next great American company. Members of the CUNY community have won Fulbright awards, Rhodes Scholarships, National Science Foundation Fellowships, and Pulitzer Prizes; CUNY people are crossing borders literally, academically, and artistically."

That being said, the event was wonderfully run and taught us a lot about the borders we all face, and often find hard to erase. We got to see amazing performances by people like the Macaulay Triplets (a capella group), listen to wonderful talks by students just like us, and listen to inspirational talks by those who are older than us (let's not forget about Jill Bargonetti's lesson on DNA Replication with a dance!)

Here are some of the best quotes of the event along with links to the speakers' Twitter accounts:

My absolute favorite of the day: "Imagination is daring to love what is not in front of us." - @Jessxchen

"Bearing witness is life-changing. You cannot unlearn what you have learned. Use this knowledge to create change." @activistakat

"You never want to leave your home, your family. But people need to grow. The only way to do that is to live new experiences." @karsouny

"You can do anything if you have that passion. What is your difference going to be?" - Jason Ramos

"Black women have acted as agents of change throughout their quest for freedom." @martajec

"No piece of paper is enough to signify a person's character. Every person, documented or not, deserves to be listened to." - Aashna Shah

To her daughter: "If the landscape attempts to bar her entrance, I hope she will forge ahead." @martajec

"To turn belief into fight, you need provocation and the belief in tomorrow." @BYFARMega

"The great healer of grief is validation. Grief needs to be heard." - Stephenson

"If journalists don't take a stand, they aren't doing their jobs. If we don't ask tough questions, no one will." @jorgeramosnews

"I don't think we can have democracy until we look at our neighbor...as fundamentally human." @ja_strub

"We no longer punish people for what they have done, but we punish people for who they are." @GalenBaughman when he talked about the justice system.

"Watch our shoulders spread into sails that will never face home again." @Jessxchen

"We endure all of the pain we do is because we tell us ourselves that our future will be worth all the pain today." - Aashna Shah

"Through the act of migration, human beings search for their identities. They move to find home, refuge, and love." @martajec

"I want to show you what it feels like to be a citizen of three countries, to have each stripped in sucession and still survive" @wochanofficial

"Don't worry about tomorrow. Forget about yesterday. Focus on now." Robina Asti

"When fleeing, immigrants sacrifice their home, country, culture. Being undocumented means your family gets torn apart." - Aashna Shah

"Bearing witness means inserting yourself into the story through connecting to the person." @activistakat

Robina Asti also shared one of her biggest regrets: "Don't miss the opportunity to get to know your parents."

"Take punctuation seriously. Punctuation is prosody." @andrewmaxr

"I hope every one of you lives to be my age, that means there'll be other older people who get what's going on!" Robina Asti

"Maturity is about understanding the other's perspective." - Artist @karsouny

"Believe that the fences will come down and they will. The person that you are is you." - Robina Asti