00:00 You know I struggled in school. I was the kid who spent most of the day
00:05 Chilling out with the janitor in the hallway, right?
00:09 I was the kid in middle school who had such a hard time keeping his mouth shut
00:13 That I grew up on a first-name basis with surely the receptionist in the principal's office
00:19 And I was a kid in high school who had such a hard time learning to read that I spent most of my high school days
00:28 Hiding in the bathroom to escape reading out loud with tears streaming down my face
00:33 I was diagnosed with dyslexia or a language-based learning disability in fourth grade
00:38 I was diagnosed with ADD or attention deficit hyperactivity disorder in fifth grade
00:43 And I dropped out of school for a year in sixth grade
00:47 I was a kid who believed that because I was different I was deficient that I was the stupid crazy and
00:54 Lazy kid and you can imagine by the time I re-enrolled in high school. There were a lot of low expectations that surrounded me
01:01 I was told by my dad that I would probably be a high school dropout and I was told by a teacher
01:06 Unfortunately that I would most likely end up in jail or incarcerated
01:11 But you know what I beat those odds
01:14 transcended those low expectations I
01:19 Want to spend my time with you talking about what are the things?
01:23 Investments commitments that help young folks like me beat those low expectations and prove them wrong
01:30 You know in my life. It was really three things
01:32 I'm here today because of
01:34 Multiple teachers, but I want to tell you about one of them
01:37 Got him father young met father young at a tipping point in my life where I could have went left
01:41 But I went right you know first college before Brown
01:45 Marymount University went there on soccer scholarship thought I was a dumb jock couldn't be anything
01:51 But that and on the first day on campus the soccer coach made us go around
01:55 To the different departments and listen to the presentations
01:58 And I went around and I didn't listen to anything until I got to the English department and the chair of the department
02:03 Father young was up there talking about literature and learning like his head was on fire
02:08 And I was moved so I went up to him afterwards. I said father young you you moved me
02:13 I think I might want to be an English major here at LMU, but I don't know if I can do it
02:17 I don't read well. I don't write well. I don't spell well
02:19 The guy looked right at me and said I believe in you some of the most gifted thinkers in the world
02:26 Wbh John Irving they were thinkers like you you can do this
02:30 So I was changed that moment I walked across campus to the other side to the Dean of academic enrollment
02:38 I walked into that guy's office, and I said I'm gonna study me some English literature here at LMU, right?
02:43 It is game time. Let's do this. You know and that guy he pulled out my file right the individualized
02:51 education plan the IEP right NSA
02:55 KGB got nothing on the IEP, okay?
02:59 They've been doing deep Intel on me my whole life it ain't good news in that file
03:08 Is this Nick he flips through it he laughs and he says English literature
03:14 I won't approve that major you should consider something less
03:17 Intellectual so I was deflated like a balloon
03:20 Back to the kid in the hallway walk back across campus to father young and said not gonna be an English major
03:26 And he said why?
03:29 Said that guy thinks it's too hard because of my disabilities father young was real quiet
03:33 Then he looked at me, and he said in a way that only an old-school Jesuit can he said well son
03:39 I guess you're just gonna have to prove that bastard wrong
03:43 And and the next day I enrolled in four English literature classes
03:52 And that guy who told me I should consider something less intellectual
03:56 Let's just say that he has an autographed copy of both of my books on his desk right now, right?
04:01 I
04:03 Was a kid who believed that because I was different I was deficient that I was the stupid crazy and
04:12 Lazy kid, but I've come to believe to my core that these things that we have labeled to be
04:19 Deficiencies or disorders aren't that they are differences in the truest sense of the word and the thing that really
04:26 Disables individuals is the way that those differences are treated by others
04:31 a foundation of my journey of change was a deep
04:34 commitment to not just fixing kids problems
04:39 But finding and celebrating and scaling their strengths
04:43 And if you listen to any journey of change by somebody like me who grew up in the hallway
04:47 It's all about finding that thing that they are good at I want to spend my time
04:51 Celebrating the potential of those kids who learn and live differently
04:57 Every single human being has a strength talent or interest that you can find and you can build a life on
05:03 Find your strengths and compensate for your weaknesses
05:07 You
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