One of my favorite ways to wind down is to watch TED talks. For those of you who don't know, TED is a platform that allows speakers from different backgrounds to share their ideas to a global audience. The best TED talks question, challenge and reinvent ideas. Here are some of my particular favorites that I've watched over the years.

1. Salman Khan: also know as the individual who taught me calculus, physics, and organic chemistry

I have to attribute a good chunk of my success in school to Salman Khan. In this TED talk, he talks about the development of Khan Academy from being simple videos for his cousins to the full-fledged godsend of a site that it is today. Salman Khan also advocates the flipped classroom model, which I am also a fan of. Essentially, the traditional lectures that would be given during class time are to be watched at home, leaving classroom time for learning and practicing. This is helpful for two reasons. At home, you have the ability to rewind the lectures, personalizing them for you. You also have been introduced to the material in the comfort of your own home. This is advantageous because when you are practicing with those problems in the classroom, you already have a deeper understanding of the material. I had a flipped classroom model for chemistry, and it engrained the material to an extent where I can conveniently draw back on it for my upper level science classes. The best part of his videos is that they are one hundred percent free. Salman Khan's mission is to create a global classroom- which is exactly what is happening.

2. This talk will change the way you view education.

So. Much. Courage.

Please do yourself a favor and watch this talk. I'm not even going to lie, I bawled like a baby. Kakenya Ntaiya underwent excruciating pain and jumped through many obstacles to get an education. She not only transformed her life but 125 other lives by building a school for the local girls in her community. Inspirational TED Talks like this make me attack school with vigor and determination.

3. A Sanitary Pad Revolution

Muruganatham addresses a taboo in many developing countries: menstruation. One day, he noticed his wife using an old, dirty, bloody rag, which is what most women in rural India use if they're lucky. After learning that sanitary pads were not affordable for most women, he embarked on a mission to generate sanitary pads for the benefit of rural women. He is on a journey to make every woman in India have access to sanitary pads, not just the two percent. So far, he's on his ninth year of sustaining this cheap manufacturing of pads against multinational corporations. A good husband, but an even better philanthropist.

4. There's just something about 4 a.m. in the morning...

This TED talk is one of my favorites. Rives keeps you rapt with attention as you follow his fascination with 4 a.m. in the morning through poems, movies and books. P.S: Watch till the end. The end is my favorite.

5. Because there's nothing more beautiful than the way the ocean refuses to stop kissing the shoreline, no matter how many times it's sent away

"Impossible is trying to connect in this world, trying to hold onto others while things are blowing up around you, knowing that while you're speaking, they aren't just waiting for their turn to talk -- they hear you. They feel exactly what you feel at the same time that you feel it. It's what I strive for every time I open my mouth -- that impossible connection."

Sarah Kay starts off her TED talk with one her pieces, "If I should have a daughter" that hooks you for rest of her talk. One of my absolute favorites.

One of the best and under-appreciated things in life is to be inspired. I'm so grateful to TED because they have a platform for talks that inspire me, move me, and ultimately, transform the way I view the world.