WEBVTT 00:00:00.000 --> 00:00:01.164 You are not a mistake. 00:00:01.164 --> 00:00:02.506 You are not an accident. 00:00:02.506 --> 00:00:04.055 You are here for a reason. 00:00:04.055 --> 00:00:05.914 I know you're going through some hard times 00:00:05.914 --> 00:00:08.048 I know life at times might feel rough 00:00:08.048 --> 00:00:10.638 or you might feel weird or things might be frustrating. 00:00:10.638 --> 00:00:12.408 but it's not always going to be like this. 00:00:12.408 --> 00:00:14.848 Your condition is not your conclusion. 00:00:16.087 --> 00:00:20.087 I've got to just take me 5 minutes to kind of just unpack my story 00:00:20.177 --> 00:00:22.523 So that you have an idea of who I am 00:00:22.523 --> 00:00:26.642 and why I speak with the passion that I speak with. 00:00:28.172 --> 00:00:30.849 There was a time when I was in a really dark place. 00:00:31.061 --> 00:00:33.971 You know, my mom had me when she was 16 years old 00:00:34.191 --> 00:00:37.078 I grew up without my biological father in my life 00:00:37.078 --> 00:00:40.598 I struggled with years with drug and alcohol abuse 00:00:40.818 --> 00:00:42.588 and I just found myself in a really, 00:00:42.588 --> 00:00:44.778 really really weird and dark palce. 00:00:44.880 --> 00:00:46.870 I had to repeat the seventh grade and 00:00:46.870 --> 00:00:48.500 when eight grade came around, 00:00:48.500 --> 00:00:50.750 I'll never forget hearing at a teacher 00:00:50.750 --> 00:00:53.470 conference, a teacher tell my mom that 00:00:53.470 --> 00:00:56.110 I wasn't high school material, and I came 00:00:56.110 --> 00:00:58.236 to tell you that that words are powerful. 00:00:58.236 --> 00:01:00.196 And when I heard that statement, I 00:01:00.196 --> 00:01:02.356 remember feeling like, wow, you know, 00:01:02.356 --> 00:01:04.238 like I am really, really a failure. 00:01:04.238 --> 00:01:06.018 You know, like it's one thing to 00:01:06.018 --> 00:01:09.278 tell a student, Hey okay, you're about to graduate from high school. 00:01:09.278 --> 00:01:11.068 You're not college material. 00:01:11.068 --> 00:01:12.538 You're not going to go to Ivy league. 00:01:12.538 --> 00:01:14.918 Maybe you should go to tech school. 00:01:14.918 --> 00:01:15.998 Like, I've heard that, right? 00:01:15.998 --> 00:01:18.105 Like different people have different paths, 00:01:18.105 --> 00:01:20.165 but how do you tell a middle school kid 00:01:20.165 --> 00:01:21.855 that they're not ready for high chool? 00:01:21.855 --> 00:01:22.902 Like, it affected me. 00:01:23.402 --> 00:01:25.588 And I'll never forget going that next year. 00:01:25.687 --> 00:01:29.846 And after a series of events, a lot of fighting,a lot of struggling 00:01:29.846 --> 00:01:31.311 that school end up kicking me out. 00:01:31.987 --> 00:01:33.397 They got all bent out of shape 00:01:33.397 --> 00:01:35.047 because I cut the electricity off. 00:01:36.608 --> 00:01:39.608 The next year I went to another school, got the 00:01:39.608 --> 00:01:41.268 report card at the end of the year, and because 00:01:41.268 --> 00:01:44.945 I did not do well and I did not put good in when 00:01:44.945 --> 00:01:47.888 I got that final report card all F's one C. 00:01:48.041 --> 00:01:51.171 And my mom is this tall, but when she gets mad, 00:01:51.171 --> 00:01:53.271 she turns into the Hulk, you know? 00:01:53.271 --> 00:01:55.850 And I'm think like, this is not going to be pretty, 00:01:55.850 --> 00:01:57.190 but I came up with a plan. 00:01:57.190 --> 00:01:57.970 I said, you know what? 00:01:57.970 --> 00:01:58.780 I'm gonna change my grade. 00:01:59.280 --> 00:02:00.540 So I went to the library. 00:02:00.540 --> 00:02:03.410 I got that white out, I crossed out all the F's and the C. 00:02:03.410 --> 00:02:05.410 I took a fancy pen and a ruler and I 00:02:05.410 --> 00:02:07.300 put those small little dots and lines 00:02:07.300 --> 00:02:09.340 and I gave myself all A's and two B's 00:02:09.340 --> 00:02:11.970 Then I made a copy of it, and as soon as I got home 00:02:11.970 --> 00:02:12.900 I gave it to my mom, 00:02:12.900 --> 00:02:14.120 She took one glance. 00:02:14.120 --> 00:02:16.300 She was like, boy, where's your real report card at? 00:02:16.641 --> 00:02:18.541 I said mom, let me explain it. 00:02:18.541 --> 00:02:20.371 She said no, no, no I don't want to hear it. 00:02:20.371 --> 00:02:21.651 I know what happened. 00:02:21.651 --> 00:02:22.591 I said, you do? 00:02:22.591 --> 00:02:23.631 She said yes. 00:02:23.631 --> 00:02:25.531 You probably lost it how you always lose 00:02:25.531 --> 00:02:27.491 stuff and you went to the office and they 00:02:27.491 --> 00:02:29.768 had to make a copy of theirs on file. 00:02:31.032 --> 00:02:35.032 I said, yup,yup, you be knowing mama. 00:02:35.032 --> 00:02:35.892 She like, I know 00:02:35.892 --> 00:02:37.322 I'm like, you know everything. 00:02:37.322 --> 00:02:41.642 She's like, I know but at the end of that summer, 00:02:41.642 --> 00:02:45.642 at the end of that summer, when my real report card came in. 00:02:46.232 --> 00:02:47.646 It was really rough. 00:02:47.655 --> 00:02:51.335 I've never forget, like when I first trick my mom and she saw it. 00:02:51.335 --> 00:02:53.165 She was like, i'm so pround of you. 00:02:53.165 --> 00:02:54.455 She started crying. 00:02:54.455 --> 00:02:55.675 I even got emotional. 00:02:55.675 --> 00:02:57.965 I was like, I told your momma I'm going to make you proud. 00:02:57.965 --> 00:02:59.365 She hugging me. I'm hugging her. 00:02:59.365 --> 00:03:00.819 We got like a brekthrough. 00:03:00.819 --> 00:03:03.139 And you're probably wondering like, Jeremy, why were you crying? 00:03:03.139 --> 00:03:06.881 Like you know, you didn't really earn all A's and two B's 00:03:06.881 --> 00:03:10.979 Well, for the first time in a long time, I didn't feel like a failure 00:03:11.882 --> 00:03:14.462 Like I actually felt successful, like worthy. 00:03:14.462 --> 00:03:15.032 Like 00:03:15.032 --> 00:03:17.202 I felt like I was good enough for, so that was 00:03:17.202 --> 00:03:19.825 a bit of emotional moment, but it wasn't real 00:03:20.001 --> 00:03:22.167 because I didn't really earn those grades. 00:03:22.247 --> 00:03:24.647 Now, when my school sent my real report card home 00:03:24.647 --> 00:03:27.510 and my mom saw it, she was in denial. 00:03:27.587 --> 00:03:29.253 My baby made A's and B's. 00:03:29.253 --> 00:03:30.520 so she called the school. 00:03:30.520 --> 00:03:33.567 I was like Ooh, hang up the phone, mama, hang up the phone. 00:03:34.870 --> 00:03:36.503 And again,she's in tears, 00:03:38.299 --> 00:03:40.769 But now what was once tears of joy. 00:03:41.366 --> 00:03:43.528 Now it was tears of sorrow, tears of pain. 00:03:43.528 --> 00:03:45.526 She has the frustration and she's trying to 00:03:45.526 --> 00:03:47.756 figure out like, I wish my baby would just get 00:03:47.756 --> 00:03:50.243 it together and I was so hurt, but I felt stuck. 00:03:50.264 --> 00:03:53.513 I was depressed, I was tired, I was struggling. 00:03:53.513 --> 00:03:55.042 I felt like I was an accident. 00:03:55.042 --> 00:03:56.347 Like what is the purpose of life? 00:03:56.347 --> 00:03:57.677 Like why am I here? 00:03:57.677 --> 00:03:59.507 You know, I felt like I wasn't. I couldn't fit in 00:03:59.507 --> 00:04:01.131 when it was time to read, I didn't want to read 00:04:01.131 --> 00:04:03.010 because somebody was gonna teach me cause 00:04:03.010 --> 00:04:04.059 I wasn't a good reader. 00:04:04.059 --> 00:04:05.334 We was always getting into fights, 00:04:05.334 --> 00:04:06.402 people's bullying me. 00:04:06.402 --> 00:04:07.704 Then there was a time when I was the bully, 00:04:07.704 --> 00:04:10.929 like I just struggle and I was like, what the point of it all? 00:04:11.110 --> 00:04:12.417 And my mom's great mom, so 00:04:12.417 --> 00:04:14.147 she moved me to another school. 00:04:14.147 --> 00:04:17.036 So, now I'm at the school now called Huntsville high, 00:04:17.036 --> 00:04:19.854 This is my third school for the ninth grade. 00:04:20.213 --> 00:04:22.453 Now I'm at this new school, and 00:04:22.453 --> 00:04:25.293 I don't know how to explain it to you, but I got a group of teacher, 00:04:25.293 --> 00:04:26.723 I felt like they were weird. 00:04:27.507 --> 00:04:30.897 They were saying stuff like, Jeremy, we believe in you. 00:04:31.686 --> 00:04:32.435 ME? 00:04:32.520 --> 00:04:36.090 One teacher's like, Oh yeah, Jeremy Anderson up top my man 00:04:36.090 --> 00:04:38.215 Ah, this is going to be the best year ever. 00:04:38.254 --> 00:04:40.413 I'm like, ok 00:04:41.225 --> 00:04:43.134 One teacher, I had to ask him, I was like 00:04:43.134 --> 00:04:45.248 wait a second, y'all are way too enthusiastic. 00:04:45.248 --> 00:04:46.746 Did y'all get my transcripts? 00:04:46.746 --> 00:04:48.250 Like, y'all got the right Jeremy. 00:04:48.250 --> 00:04:50.090 They was like, yup we got the right 00:04:50.090 --> 00:04:52.216 Jeremy, but you're in a new season now. 00:04:53.076 --> 00:04:55.054 So you don't have to worry about the past. 00:04:55.054 --> 00:04:57.024 I was like, yeah, but you do know about last year 00:04:57.072 --> 00:04:58.572 I said, you know this is my third school. 00:04:58.572 --> 00:05:02.330 They were like, we not worried about that again, Jeremy, you're in a new season 00:05:02.330 --> 00:05:05.044 so, let's not bring old things into a new season. 00:05:05.460 --> 00:05:07.260 And they began to speak life to me. 00:05:07.260 --> 00:05:08.470 They began to encourage me. 00:05:08.470 --> 00:05:12.230 They begin to affirm me, and because I was young and I was immature. 00:05:12.230 --> 00:05:14.247 I'm kind of felt like, well, you don't really understand my story. 00:05:14.247 --> 00:05:17.192 You don't come from where I come from and I'll try to build a wall up 00:05:17.192 --> 00:05:19.311 But you know what knocked that wall down? 00:05:19.711 --> 00:05:20.620 It's love. 00:05:21.520 --> 00:05:23.416 You know what, knock that wall down. 00:05:23.416 --> 00:05:24.586 It was perseverance. 00:05:24.586 --> 00:05:26.127 You know what knocked that wall down? 00:05:26.127 --> 00:05:28.307 I was like unwavering commitment and 00:05:28.307 --> 00:05:31.859 support and I realized you could be black, white, purple, blue, green. 00:05:31.859 --> 00:05:33.049 We need each other. 00:05:33.049 --> 00:05:35.294 And if you're showing up, cause you believe in me 00:05:35.294 --> 00:05:39.954 and you see great things inside me, like maybe, just maybe I could do great things. 00:05:42.427 --> 00:05:46.427 Your mindset, your belief system is everything. 00:05:47.147 --> 00:05:50.807 It is so beautiful, and so I came all the way from Atlanta Georgia 00:05:50.807 --> 00:05:52.627 to tell you, you are not a mistake. 00:05:52.627 --> 00:05:53.992 You're not an accident. 00:05:53.992 --> 00:05:55.552 You were here for a reason. 00:05:55.552 --> 00:05:57.302 I know you're going through some hard times. 00:05:57.319 --> 00:06:00.628 I know life at times might feel rough or you might feel weird 00:06:00.628 --> 00:06:01.965 or things might be frustrating. 00:06:01.965 --> 00:06:03.793 but it's not going to ways be like this. 00:06:03.793 --> 00:06:06.185 Your condition is not your conclusion. 00:06:06.185 --> 00:06:08.565 There was so much more that's going to take place. 00:06:08.565 --> 00:06:10.906 There are so much more power that's inside you. 00:06:10.906 --> 00:06:12.277 If you make up in your mind. 00:06:12.277 --> 00:06:15.027 I choose to believe that I could do great things 00:06:15.027 --> 00:06:18.111 and I promise you my young friends, I got to a point in life 00:06:18.111 --> 00:06:20.481 when I was like, man, I got these teachers. 00:06:20.481 --> 00:06:21.504 They must really care. 00:06:21.504 --> 00:06:22.954 Like when you start having teachers 00:06:22.954 --> 00:06:24.424 that get dignosed with cancer. 00:06:24.424 --> 00:06:25.933 but they still show up to school. 00:06:25.933 --> 00:06:28.115 One of my teachers had arthritis so bad 00:06:28.115 --> 00:06:29.930 she couldn't even write on the chalkboard. 00:06:29.930 --> 00:06:32.040 Other teacher was going through a divorce. 00:06:32.040 --> 00:06:33.749 another one that just buried her child. 00:06:33.749 --> 00:06:37.406 I'm looking for at all these teachers that going through life just like 00:06:37.406 --> 00:06:40.038 you just like me, but they kept showing up, 00:06:40.548 --> 00:06:42.794 so something inside my brain said 00:06:43.536 --> 00:06:45.102 Maybe I'm worth it. 00:06:45.102 --> 00:06:49.555 Something inside me said maybe can do great things. 00:06:49.555 --> 00:06:51.617 For them to jump through all these hoops 00:06:51.617 --> 00:06:54.114 and go out of their way to kind of connect 00:06:54.114 --> 00:06:55.904 with me for them to make these sacrifices. 00:06:55.904 --> 00:06:57.642 Maybe it is possible for me. 00:06:57.642 --> 00:06:59.194 It's the same way with you. 00:07:03.783 --> 00:07:05.747 Sometimes, I'll go back to like being that little boy 00:07:05.747 --> 00:07:07.807 in the hallway that overhead that teacher 00:07:07.807 --> 00:07:09.880 told my mom cause I wasn't high school material. 00:07:09.880 --> 00:07:11.287 Then I have to remind myself like, no, 00:07:11.287 --> 00:07:13.263 no, no, no, that, no that's not true. 00:07:13.263 --> 00:07:15.902 I am that. I can do that. I can achieve that. 00:07:15.902 --> 00:07:18.114 Sometimes I have to remind myself, what am I telling you. 00:07:18.114 --> 00:07:20.094 Like life can be hard, life can be rough. 00:07:20.094 --> 00:07:23.418 but there's something special and there's something powerful 00:07:23.418 --> 00:07:24.918 about the human mind and 00:07:24.918 --> 00:07:27.604 about the human spirit and about the human will. 00:07:27.604 --> 00:07:30.434 When you tell yourself, I won't give up, I won't surrender. 00:07:30.434 --> 00:07:32.916 I won't quit.I'm going to show up every single day 00:07:32.916 --> 00:07:34.182 and do the best that I can. 00:07:34.182 --> 00:07:36.993 And here's the beautiful thing about you 00:07:37.396 --> 00:07:39.674 is while you're going through your process 00:07:40.140 --> 00:07:42.454 and why you're trying to navigate these waters 00:07:42.454 --> 00:07:46.694 and while you're still, you know, trying to tweak some stuff within yourself. 00:07:47.064 --> 00:07:49.582 You still got the power to save somebody else's life. 00:07:49.744 --> 00:07:52.095 You got the power to speak up for others. 00:07:52.095 --> 00:07:53.964 You got the power to be the voice of 00:07:53.964 --> 00:07:55.804 reason for someone who might be on the 00:07:55.804 --> 00:07:57.528 the verge of doing something they shouldn't do. 00:07:57.528 --> 00:08:00.088 They have the power to brighten somebody's day. 00:08:00.088 --> 00:08:01.378 Your words are powerful. 00:08:01.378 --> 00:08:04.067 Your energy is powerful, and so I don't want you 00:08:04.067 --> 00:08:06.572 all to think that you have to have it all together 00:08:06.572 --> 00:08:09.536 and everything for you has to be perfect in order for you to be a leader. 00:08:09.536 --> 00:08:10.312 No, no, no,no,no,no. 00:08:10.312 --> 00:08:11.554 You can make an impact. 00:08:11.554 --> 00:08:12.818 You can make a difference. 00:08:12.818 --> 00:08:15.378 You can save somebody's life right now by 00:08:15.378 --> 00:08:17.854 you just being unapologetically you 00:08:17.854 --> 00:08:20.508 and you walking in that calling and you speak life 00:08:20.508 --> 00:08:22.618 and you were affirmed and you the others know. 00:08:22.618 --> 00:08:25.408 I see you and I'm with you and I got your back 00:08:25.408 --> 00:08:27.350 and you're not by yourself and I will 00:08:27.350 --> 00:08:29.280 hold your hand as you go throughout this 00:08:29.280 --> 00:08:31.330 journey and even through I'm struggling, 00:08:31.330 --> 00:08:33.887 I don't mind fighting on behalf of you and 00:08:33.887 --> 00:08:35.922 we're going to figure thing out together. 00:08:38.086 --> 00:08:39.625 Key word together. 00:08:41.862 --> 00:08:44.532 We're going to figure this thing out together. 00:08:44.532 --> 00:08:46.302 There's something beautiful about us 00:08:46.302 --> 00:08:48.983 having that mindset of us being together. 00:08:49.690 --> 00:08:51.090 You know what I'm saying? 00:08:51.090 --> 00:08:54.792 Not black, white, Asian, Hispanic, not Republican. 00:08:54.792 --> 00:08:58.372 Independent, not gay or straight, not like male or female, 00:08:58.372 --> 00:09:00.886 like us coming together saying, man, we are huamn. 00:09:00.886 --> 00:09:05.166 We are here and I believe that there is more that makes us together. 00:09:05.166 --> 00:09:08.406 There was more than we have in common than we have. 00:09:08.406 --> 00:09:09.674 That's not in common. 00:09:09.674 --> 00:09:12.354 And I believe there are differences in what's 00:09:12.354 --> 00:09:17.073 make us don't dog on amazing our differences. 00:09:20.318 --> 00:09:21.628 I think about that, right? 00:09:21.628 --> 00:09:24.033 Like there was so many amazing things 00:09:24.033 --> 00:09:26.689 and there were so many different amazing personalities 00:09:26.689 --> 00:09:31.569 and there was nobody else this planet exactly like you. 00:09:31.742 --> 00:09:32.762 So I believe 00:09:33.686 --> 00:09:36.046 that we make a decision to say, you know what? 00:09:36.046 --> 00:09:38.418 We will come together as a people. 00:09:38.418 --> 00:09:40.693 We will come together as a nation. 00:09:40.693 --> 00:09:42.946 We will come together as a state. 00:09:42.946 --> 00:09:44.976 We will come together as a city. 00:09:44.976 --> 00:09:46.829 We will come together as a district. 00:09:46.829 --> 00:09:48.806 We will come together as a school. 00:09:48.806 --> 00:09:50.404 We will come together as a grade. 00:09:50.404 --> 00:09:52.364 We will come together as a class 00:09:52.364 --> 00:09:54.114 and we will value each other. 00:09:54.114 --> 00:09:55.784 We will speak life to one another 00:09:55.784 --> 00:09:57.919 and we will help each other go to that next level. 00:10:04.186 --> 00:10:04.929 You know what? 00:10:04.929 --> 00:10:05.894 I'm not just a student. 00:10:05.894 --> 00:10:08.151 You know what I'm saying? That just happening to me this grade. 00:10:08.151 --> 00:10:09.882 I'm not just here at the school. 00:10:09.882 --> 00:10:11.279 I'm here for a reason. 00:10:11.279 --> 00:10:13.483 You know what I'm saying, you got to tell yourself, man, I feel like 00:10:13.483 --> 00:10:15.273 I've been pushed down in the dirt. 00:10:15.273 --> 00:10:17.405 I feel like people have been stomping on me. 00:10:17.405 --> 00:10:19.254 I feel like stuff has been raining on me. 00:10:19.254 --> 00:10:22.202 But you didn't realize as my young friends, you were just a seed, 00:10:22.202 --> 00:10:24.224 so you got to tell yourself. no, no,no 00:10:24.224 --> 00:10:27.110 I haven't been pushed down on the dirt and I haven't been stomped on. 00:10:27.110 --> 00:10:30.461 I've been planted and not been placed in this pot for a reason. 00:10:30.461 --> 00:10:34.261 And we're at this arena, here to be able to have a conversation to say, 00:10:34.261 --> 00:10:36.093 what does it look like to go to that next level? 00:10:36.158 --> 00:10:38.150 And so I need you all to do the same thing 00:10:38.150 --> 00:10:40.020 When you leave here, if you feel like 00:10:40.020 --> 00:10:43.389 you're in a weird place if you feel stuck, if you feel like, you know what, 00:10:43.508 --> 00:10:45.068 I just feel like I need some help. 00:10:45.068 --> 00:10:46.379 You get the help you need. 00:10:46.379 --> 00:10:48.373 That's how you show how strong and 00:10:48.373 --> 00:10:50.339 how bold and how powerful you are. 00:10:51.905 --> 00:10:53.912 What's the next app that you're going to create? 00:10:53.912 --> 00:10:55.217 You don't say sometimes I wonder like, 00:10:55.217 --> 00:10:57.077 you know, say, are you going to come up with a cure 00:10:57.077 --> 00:10:58.560 for alzheimers, domentia? 00:10:58.560 --> 00:11:00.190 Are you going to come up, you know what 00:11:00.190 --> 00:11:03.040 I'm saying, with something that can purify water for people across the globe? 00:11:03.040 --> 00:11:05.780 Are you going to create the next app con connect us? 00:11:05.780 --> 00:11:08.236 Are you going to be the next teacher or superintendent? 00:11:08.236 --> 00:11:10.687 Are you going to be the next leader in our community like, 00:11:10.687 --> 00:11:13.407 like, I'd be wondering sometimes like what are the great things 00:11:13.407 --> 00:11:14.527 that you're to accomplish? 00:11:14.527 --> 00:11:17.767 And there are times when I look at what's happening in the world 00:11:17.767 --> 00:11:19.356 and I'm a bit discouraged. 00:11:19.907 --> 00:11:21.512 I've got a seven-year-old daughter 00:11:21.512 --> 00:11:22.742 and a one-year-old baby boy. 00:11:22.742 --> 00:11:24.332 Sometimes I look at the crazy stuff that's 00:11:24.332 --> 00:11:26.102 happening in this worls and I'm like, man, 00:11:26.102 --> 00:11:28.992 what kind of world am I rasing my kids in? 00:11:29.170 --> 00:11:31.380 But then I'm encouraged because I 00:11:31.380 --> 00:11:32.960 get to come to events like this. 00:11:32.960 --> 00:11:35.068 And I'll get to look in your faces and connect 00:11:35.068 --> 00:11:37.428 with you and I have no doubt that there's great things 00:11:37.428 --> 00:11:39.593 inside you and that you're going to experience 00:11:39.593 --> 00:11:41.533 some amazing things inside your life 00:11:41.533 --> 00:11:44.946 If you make a decision to say, I'm going to speak up, 00:11:44.946 --> 00:11:47.121 I'm going to stand up.I'm going to save a life. 00:11:47.121 --> 00:11:49.514 If you tell yourself I will be a leader. 00:11:49.514 --> 00:11:51.435 If you tell yourself, I am going to show up 00:11:51.435 --> 00:11:53.901 every single day of my school and I'm going to go above and 00:11:53.901 --> 00:11:56.957 beyond because there are some kids in some different countries 00:11:56.957 --> 00:11:59.070 and some different places that wish they had 00:11:59.070 --> 00:12:03.070 the opportunity to be at my school, to have floors and lights 00:12:03.070 --> 00:12:04.202 You know I'm saying 00:12:04.202 --> 00:12:05.936 and screen and technology. 00:12:08.874 --> 00:12:11.434 I've been some places my young friends while 00:12:11.434 --> 00:12:13.724 I walked us through schools and some different countries 00:12:13.724 --> 00:12:15.084 doing some volunteer work, 00:12:15.084 --> 00:12:17.144 and I'm seeing the facilities they're in. 00:12:17.504 --> 00:12:19.872 I know I've met some kids that would love 00:12:19.872 --> 00:12:22.063 to come here and able to go to school 00:12:22.063 --> 00:12:24.920 that has a gym or be able to go to school that has AC 00:12:24.920 --> 00:12:26.780 or to be able to go to school that they has desk, 00:12:26.780 --> 00:12:29.826 or to be able to go to school where they get their own books and then some 00:12:29.826 --> 00:12:31.331 of y'all tablets and all these extra things. 00:12:31.331 --> 00:12:32.803 We are so privileged. 00:12:32.803 --> 00:12:35.151 What do we do with this opportunity that we have? 00:12:35.151 --> 00:12:37.591 I want to challenge you to make the most of it, 00:12:37.591 --> 00:12:40.479 to speak life, to love, to encourage. 00:12:41.256 --> 00:12:43.906 To wrap your arms around those who are 00:12:43.906 --> 00:12:45.573 struggling and you let them know, 00:12:45.573 --> 00:12:47.216 you know where you're not in this by yourself 00:12:47.936 --> 00:12:50.300 What we're not going to do is we're not going to quit. 00:12:50.300 --> 00:12:52.436 What we're not gonna do is we're not going o surrender. 00:12:52.436 --> 00:12:54.141 What we're not going to do is we're going to just 00:12:54.141 --> 00:12:55.832 you know what I'm saying, just stay in this place. 00:12:55.832 --> 00:12:58.011 We knew that eventually things would change. 00:12:58.521 --> 00:13:00.481 Like eventually it's going to turn around 00:13:00.481 --> 00:13:04.481 for my good and we'll be stronger from it and we'll be better equipped 00:13:04.481 --> 00:13:06.261 and this will make us better people. 00:13:06.499 --> 00:13:08.955 Now you can't always control what happens to you. 00:13:08.955 --> 00:13:11.892 My friends. But you can control how you respond to it.