The last couple of blog posts Ive written have been about my opportunity to talk at the TEDx Youth Conference at Cal. State, Monterey Bay. The conference was sponsored by the Stevenson School.

One of the great things about the TEDx conference was getting to listen to the wide variety of speakers that ranged from teenagers to oldsters like myself. However, one of the disturbing themes I heard from the younger speakers was that in their educational process they were discouraged from pursuing their dreams. And I thought education was about having your dreams! Here are a couple of examples.

The first speaker of the day was Johan Khalilian, a native of Chicago. He is in his early thirties now and was relating what he was told in High School. There were two things that he told his counselor that he wanted to do”attend a particular college and play basketball there.

Now, he was a sophomore at the time when he was given the news that he wasnt good enough (talented) to do either. The nun (he was attending a Catholic H.S.) who was his counselor was very clear that he should lower his sights.

This was the Michael Jordan era in Chicago, so every kid who picked up a basketball wanted to be a player. Who is to say who will be able to accomplish what? No one knows. When I graduated from high school, I was 57 tall and I had my sights set on being a pro player. I accomplished that, and perhaps it was due to the fact that no one ever told me I couldnt.

Since our actions every day are given by the future we have created for ourselves, what happens when someone rains on our parade? Primarily, we live life hoping something good happens. This is the low road.

 

Another speaker with a similar theme was Kendall Ronzano, a 15-year-old high school student. Kendall decided that she wanted to be a homebuilder and wanted to take classes that would support her efforts. Again, her counselor completely discouraged her from taking those classes.

However, this gutsy teenager refused to have her dreams crushed. She is currently building a house BY HERSELF! Her plan is to give it to Habitat for Humanity or auction it off and give the money to Habitat.

I encourage you to hear their stories as they tell them (see videos below). You will be inspired.

Our job as educators is to encourage young people to have a dream and support their efforts to get there. You do not know what can happen, EVER!! Anything is possible!

Watch the videos of their talks from the TEDx conference. Listen to these young people. They might inspire you to value that dream that you might have given up on. Besides, they tell their story much better than I do.

Johan Khalilian

Kendall Ronzano

***Be sure to go to lulu.com and get your copy of Coach Todds latest book, œThe Art of Losing, Coaching Athletics and Thriving in a Made-for-TV World. It is a must for any leader.***