So two days ago, our school was visited by a very special man. He looks like this:
Scary, right? Oh, no. This man knows what's up. I decided to blog about him because he was the first speaker that our school brought to us that I actually listened to. Actually, he's the only speaker that came to our school that anyone listened to. Usually when we have speakers, there's rustling and rude side comments being made all around the auditorium. But when Jeff Yalden spoke, you could hear a pin drop. No joke.
So first, I'll give you some background. Every year, our school tries to get one "influential" speaker to come in and talk to us about the importance of our life and what not. I guess they are supposed to motivate us to be better students and people or something. For example, last year, some girl came in that drank out of a cup with all of her friends at a party, and got some horrible disease from it. Then, she lost all four of her limbs. Yeah. You can imagine the rude comments that were made about her when she came. Honestly, I don't think anyone got one inspirational thing out of it. What a fail.
But this year, they decided to get someone that we'd be more familiar with. Jeff was a coach off the MTV show Made, which is a show that the majority of us are familiar with.The show deals with teenagers who want to change something about themselves, or be "made" into a different kind of person. They get paired up with these coaches that help them train to do what they want. So that's basically what he did.
But anyways...
Jeff came in to talk to us about what's really important in life. He started out slow, talking about how he's just an Average Joe with an average life. While most speakers come in looking business-like and professional, he was sportin' a long sleeve Harley Davidson shirt, plain jane jeans, and black boots. You can't get more typical man than that. I instantly was interested in what he had to say because he reminded me of my father so much, just by the way he dressed and presented himself. He began off with a few jokes, which instantly got the kids attention. Let me emphasize the word: kids. His jokes were a bit offending, but I mean, if you want to get across to kids today, that's the best way to get their attention. The teachers, however, I hear were not thrilled. He made jokes about everything, from Helen Keller to hoes. We laughed, but the teachers seemed a bit offended. The principal walked out of the auditorium, muttering about how she "had much better things to do than listen to this idiotic nonsense." I think the teachers were missing the point. He was there to be influential to us... not to them. And honestly, he did an amazing job. He knew exactly how to get everyone's attention, and keep it. We went from laughing to tearing up in a matter of five minutes by the way he explained his points. His stories and messages are really what took us.
His first story he took us in was about his past life. He was absolutely horrible in school, graduating 129 in a class of 133. Hey, at least he beat four people! He was rejected by over half the colleges he applied to. When he finally got a shot, he took it. He went to a college and majored in something he can't even spell, but he says that now he can fly airplanes and was a very high rank in the air force for a number of years. You can even tell from his persona that he was into that hardcore fighting stuff. Go Jeff!
He then talked about how he met his wife, got married, and had two beautiful, wonderful daughters. Again, this reminds me of my father. =) He went into a detailed story about how his family wasn't the lovey kind, and both his parents were alcoholics. So when he met his wife's father, they became instantly close. He went over his grandfather's house everyday and talked with him about life. Unfortunately, his grandfather died a little less than a year ago. Then began Mr. Yalden's first point: what if he never got the chance to say goodbye? What if we really had only a short time to live, would we do things differently? What would we tell the people that mean the most to us? These questions all gave us something to really think deeply about.
I don't want to tell Jeff's whole speech, but he went on a rant about other occurrences in his life, and how it has made him think and impacted his life. That was his main message, the four T's: Take Time To Think. Think about it. It applies to so many aspects of life. Think before you react. If something or someone makes you mad, rather than acting on impulse, think. Think of a better way to handle the situation. On another note, imagine you go through the same routine every day. Stop. Think. Is this the kind of life you have always wanted? Think about how to improve yourself. Think of the others in your life, the ones that love you, the ones that mean the most. Think of ways to make them proud, or happy. Everyone has a brain, so use it. Just think.
I think that Jeff was the most inspiration person that I have ever heard live, or maybe even in general. He had an excellent message for teens that I think is important to convey to us at this critical time in our lives. Also, I think that his speech helped a lot of people that may be going through a hard time in their life with relationships, academically, or family-wise. Jeff has been through it all, and look at where he is now. As long as you don't give up hope, you can make something of yourself, even if you are just that average kid. Even though a lot of the teachers didn't approve, I think this was the best way to convey messages to the kids. Getting down to our level and talking to us like you understand really make us listen to what you have to say. I give lots of kudos to Jeff Yalden, you did a fantastic job. I really enjoyed listening to this inspirational man talk.
- Sara
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