Alumnus and adventurer Isaac Kenyon (BSc Petroleum Geology 2015 and MSc Petroleum Geoscience 2016) recently delivered a TEDx talk entitled 'Freedom and Opportunity from Being Outdoors'.
In the TEDx Talk Isaac takes us on his journey from finding how too much study and time indoors changed him and not for the better. He made it his mission to get outside and enjoy what the natural world could offer for excitement, inspiration and to improve mental health. He went a little too far in all his exploits but from that he learnt a lot which he shares here.
Isaac had a vision that began at Royal Holloway to make a positive difference to the people around him.
“At university, I was spending excessive amounts of time on screens," he says. "It started to affect my mental and physical health. After some self-discovery, I found my balance with technology, immersing myself in the great outdoors. After finding purpose I used my outdoor experiences to make a positive difference to the people around me through a portal called ‘challenge’."
"Since my 3rd year at university, I have joined and lead numerous expeditions and challenges. Included are a relay swim across the English Channel (no wetsuit) hailed as one of the world’s most difficult open water swims, summiting Mt.Kilimanjaro in 4 days, breaking the World and British records for the lightweight longest solo continual ergometer (indoor rowing machine) row clocking in at 83 hours and recently rowing in a team across the Atlantic Ocean in 40 days.
Isaac pursues extraordinarily difficult environments for the purpose to grow through pushing his limits in discomfort and he has learnt new skills each time.
"From these experiences I started a speaking business with the vision to inspire others to pursue the world of opportunity through fresh perspectives. After many talks and a growing social media presence, I was asked to speak at a local TEDx event in Chelmsford. The theme was 'consequences' and I remember being very excited about this theme as I had the perfect talk in mind. In a world of increasing technology use, what are the consequences of this on the human mind and body? I am no expert, however, after discussing with the event organiser and some other TED speakers I was convinced I would be qualified to shed some light on the topic after living with both extremes of excessive screen time and extended time in the outdoors.
"The purpose of the talk is to create a platform which encourages technological balance by reconnecting with nature and learning through the challenge.”
Watch the TEDx Talk on YouTube.
