you were not a mistake you were not an

accident you were here for a reason I

know you're going through some hard

times I know life at times might feel

rough or you might feel weird or things

might be frustrating but it's not going

to always be like this your condition

it's not your conclusion I've got to

just take me five minutes to kind of

just unpack my story so that you have an

idea of who I am and why I speak with

the passion that I speak with there was

a time when I was in a really dark place

you know my mom had me when she was 16

years old I grew up without my

biological father in my life I struggled

with years for drug and alcohol abuse

and I just found myself in a really

really really weird and dark place I had

to repeat the seventh grade and when the

eighth grade came around I'll never

forget hearing at a parent-teacher

conference a teacher tell my mom that I

was a high school material and I came to

tell you that words are powerful and

when I heard that statement I remember

feeling like wow you know like I am

really really a failure you know like

it's one thing to tell a student hey

okay you're about to graduate from high

school

you're not college material you're not

gonna go to the Ivy League maybe you

should go to a tech school like I've

heard that right like different people

have different paths but but how do you

tell middle school kid that they're not

ready for high school like it affected

me and I'll never forget going that next

year and after a series of events a lot

of fighting a lot of struggling that

school in there kicking me out

they got all bent out of shape because I

cut the electricity off

the next year I went to another school

got the report card at the end of the

year and because I did not do well and I

did not put good in when I got that

final report card all s1c and my mom is

this tall but when she gets mad she

turns into the Hulk

you know and I'm thinking like this is

not gonna be pretty but I came up with a

plan I said you know what i'ma change my

grades so I went to the library I got

that right out

I brushed off all the FS in the seat I

took a fancy pin in the ruler and I put

some smaller dots and lines and I gave

myself all A's and two V's then I made a

copy of it and as soon as I got home I

gave it to my mom she took one glance

and was like boy where your real report

card at I said mom let me explain she

said no no I don't want to hear it I

know what happened say you do she said

yes you probably lost it how you always

lose stuff and you went to the office

and they had to make a copy up there so

father I said yeah yeah you know mama

she's like I'm now I'm like you know

everything she's like I know but at the

end of that summer at the end of that

summer well my real report car came in

it was really rough I'll never forget

like when I first tricked my mom and she

saw it she was like I'm so proud of you

she started crying I haven't got

emotional I was like girl told you my

mama make you proud she's hugging me I'm

hugging her we got like a breakthrough

and you're probably wondering like

Jeremy why were you crying like you know

you didn't really earn all A's and two

beans well for the first time in a long

time I didn't feel like a failure

like I actually felt successful like

worthy like I felt like I was good

enough for so I that was a bit of

emotional moment but it wasn't real

because I didn't really earn those

grades now with my school to my River

Park our home

my mom saw it she was in denial my baby

mayonnaise and B so she called to school

I was like Oh hang up the phone mama

hang up the phone and again she's in

tears but now what was once tears of joy

not was tears of sorrow tears of pain

tears of frustration and she's trying to

figure out like I wish my baby would

just get it together and I was so hurt

but I felt stuck I was depressed I was

tired I was struggling I felt like I was

an accident like what's the purpose of

life like why am I here you know I felt

like I wasn't I couldn't fit in when it

was time to read I didn't want to read

cuz somebody was gonna tease me because

I wasn't a good reader we was always

getting the fights people was bullying

me then there was a time when I was a

bully like I just struggling I was like

what's the point of it all and my mom is

a great mom so she moved me to another

school so now I'm at the school now

called Huntsville hi this is my third

school for the 9th grade now I'm at this

new school and I don't know how to

explain it to you but I got a group of

teachers I felt like they were weird

they were saying stuff like Jeremy we

believe in you I'm like me what teachers

like oh yeah Jeremy Anderson over top on

man ah this is gonna be the best year

ever

I'm like okay what teacher I had to ask

myself wait a second y'all are way too

enthusiastic did y'all get my

transcripts like y'all got the right

Jeremy they was like yeah we got the

right Jeremy but you're in a new season

now so you don't have to worry about the

past I was like yeah but you do know

about lashing yup I said you know those

two my third school it's like we're not

worried about that again Jeremy you're

in a new season now so let's not bring

all things into a new season and they

began to speak life to me they begin the

recurrence me they be get to affirm me

and because I was young and I was

immature I kind of felt like well you

don't really understand my story you

don't come for a while I come from and I

try to build the wall up but you know

we're not that wall down it's love you

know we're knock that wall down

it was perseverance you know

knock that wall down it was like

unwavering commitment and support and I

realized you can be black white purple

blue green we need each other

and if you're sewing up because you

believe in me and you see great things

inside me like maybe just maybe I could

do great things your mindset your belief

system is everything and it is so

powerful and so I came all the way from

Atlanta Georgia to tell you you are not

a mistake you are not an accident you

were here for a reason I know you're

going through some hard times I know

life at times might feel rough or you

might feel weird and things might be

frustrating but it's not going to always

be like this your condition it's not

your conclusion there is so much more

that's going to take place there is so

much more power that's inside you if you

make up in your mind I choose to believe

that I could do great things and I

promise you my young friends I got to a

point in life when I was like man I got

these teachers they must really care

like when you start having teachers that

get diagnosed with cancer but they still

show up to school one of my teachers had

arthritis so bad she couldn't even write

on the chalkboard other teacher was

going through a divorce another one that

just buried her child

I'm looking at all these teachers that's

going through life just like you just

like me but they kept showing up so

something inside my brain said maybe I

am working something inside me said

maybe I can't do great things for them

to jump through all these hoops and go

out of their way to kind of connect with

me for them to make these sacrifices

maybe it is possible for me it's the

same way with you

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sometimes I go back to like being that

little boy in the hallway that ever

heard that teacher tell my mom that I

wasn't high school material then I have

to remind myself like no no no no no

that no that's not true I am that I

can't do that I can't achieve that

sometime I have to remind myself what am

I telling you my life can be hard life

can be rough but there's something

special and there's something powerful

about the human mind and about the human

spirit and about the human will

will you tell yourself I won't give up I

won't surrender I won't quit I'm gonna

sort of every single day and do the best

that I can and here's the beautiful

thing about you is while you're going

through your process and while you're

trying to navigate these waters and

while you're still you know trying to

tweak some stuff within yourself you

still got the power to save somebody

else's life you got the power to speak

up for others you got the power to be

the voice of reason for someone who

might be on the verge of doing something

they shouldn't do you have the power to

brighten somebody's day your words are

powerful your energy is powerful and so

I don't want you all to think that you

have to have it all together and

everything for you has to be perfect and

in order for you to be a leader no no no

no you can make an impact you can make a

difference you can save somebody's life

right now but you just being

unapologetically you and you're walking

in that calling and you speak life and

you affirm and you in the other snow I

see you and I with you and I got your

back

and you're not by yourself and I will

hold your hand as you go throughout this

journey and even though I'm struggling

by they on behalf of new

figure this thing out together

keyword together we're gonna figure this

thing out together there's something

beautiful about us having that mindset

of us being together you know saying not

black white asian Hispanic not

Republican Democrat independent not gay

or straight not like male to female like

us coming together saying man we are

human we are healed and I believe that

there is more that makes us together

there is more than we have in common

than we had that's not a common and I

believe there are differences it what

makes us both are both amazing our

differences

think about that right like there are so

many amazing things and there are so

many different amazing personalities and

there is nobody else on this planet

exactly like you and so I believe then

we make a decision that say you know

what we will come together as a people

we will come together as a nation we

will come together as a state we will

come together as the city we will come

together as a district we will come

together as a school we will come

together as a grade we will come

together as the class and we will value

each other we will speak life to one

another and we will help each other go

to that next look

you know what I'm not just a student you

don't say that just happening mean this

gray I'm not just here at the school I'm

here for a reason you don't say you got

to tell yourself man I feel like I've

been pushed down in the dirt I feel like

people have been stopping on me

I feel like stuff has been raining on me

but you didn't realize as my young

friends you was just a seed so you got

to tell yourself no no no I haven't been

pushed down on the dirt and I haven't

been stuffed on I've been planted and

I've been placing this pot for a reason

and we are at this arena here to be able

to have a conversation they say what

does it look like to go to that next

level and so I need you want to do the

same thing when you leave here if you

feel like you're in a weird place if you

feel stuck if you feel like you know

what I feel like I need some help you

get the help you need that's how you

show how strong and how bold and how

powerful you are what's the next app

that you're going to create you don't

send some time I wonder like you know I

said are you gonna come up with a cure

for Alzheimer's dementia or are you

going to come up you know saying what

something that can purify water for

people across the globe are you going to

create the next app that can connect us

are you going to be the next teacher or

superintendent are you going to be the

next leader in our community like why

I'd be wondering sometimes like what are

the great things that you're going to

accomplish and there are times when I

look at what's happening in the world

and imma be discouraged I've got a

seven-year-old daughter and a

one-year-old baby boy sometimes I look

at the crazy stuff that's happening in

this world and I'm like man what kind of

world am i racing my kids in but then

I'm encouraged because I get to come to

events like this and I get to look in

your faces and connect with you and I

have no doubt that there's great things

decides you and that you're going to

experience some amazing things inside

your life if you make a decision to say

I'm gonna speak up I'm gonna stand up

I'm gonna save a life if you tell

yourself I will be a leader if you tell

yourself I'm gonna show up every single

day of my school and I'm gonna go above

and beyond because there are some kids

and some different countries and some

different places that wish they had the

opportunity to be at my school to have

floors and lights

and screens and technology I've been

some places my young friends where I

walked in some schools in some different

countries doing some volunteer work and

I'm seeing the facilities they're here

i knows I've met some kids that would

love to come here and be able to go to a

school that has a gym or be able to go

to a school that has a seat or to be

able to go to school that has desk or to

be able to go to school where they get

their own books and there's some of

y'all tablets and all these extra things

we are so privileged what do we do with

this opportunity that we have I want to

challenge you to make the most of it to

speak life to love to encourage to wrap

your arms around those who are

struggling and you let them know you

know where you're not in this by

yourself what we're not going to do is

we're not gonna quit what we're not

going to do is we're not gonna surrender

what we're not going to do is we're

gonna just you know saying just stay in

this place we knew that eventually

things would change like eventually it's

gonna turn around for my good and we'll

be stronger from it and we'll be better

equipped and this will make us better

people now you can't always control what

happens to you my friends but you can't

control how you respond to it

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