By Nesima Aberra journalism student.

When I pondered wearing the hijab the summer before my freshman year of college, I thought a lot about what it meant for me to be an American Muslim.

I felt I would be almost betraying everyone I knew with this new addition to my persona, and I didn’t know how people would react.

Grandmother sat outside, as she was wont to do every day.

She saw her granddaughter walking toward her, and she noticed the young girl seemed angry.

She was kicking the dirt, and Grandmother could see there were streaks of tears running down her face.

Margaret Heffernan is an entrepreneur, Chief Executive and author. She was born in Texas, raised in Holland and educated at Cambridge University.

She worked in BBC Radio for five years where she wrote, directed, produced and commissioned dozens of documentaries and dramas.

Here are 14 provocative quotes from her TEDGlobal 2012 talk: