Running The Halls

My former marching band mate, Masaley Kargbo, asked me to speak at career day at l this past spring.

To my surprise she now is a teacher there. It was a funny thought to me that we would be in a classroom setting after having been in a band room setting in college.

(I know it may seem bizarre but I was a clarinet player in a college marching band. My grandmother always told to live life to the fullest so it was no surprise that I kept up the skill of playing the clarinet. Years later I not only graduated from undergrad but I also graduated from grad school in England. Time flies when you’re getting an education).

Anyhow, I was appreciative because my attributes were being noticed. Mostly, however, I was honored because I am a graduate of Nicholas Orem. It seems like yesterday I was running the halls as a student and now here I am as an adult revisiting my old stomping grounds.

I admit that when I was younger I might have been a handful. But my time at Nicholas Orem was truly formative. This is where I developed my passion for film and television. I found refuge in TV and film way back when I ran these halls.

Masaley forewarned me that I would have a respectful yet “hard” audience when it came to her students. I prepared myself as the charismatic bunch entered the classroom. As I approached the podium with two deep breaths, I was no longer interested in entertaining them with a couple of stories and a quick blurb summarizing the “do the right thing” message. These students looked as if they were used to the “Get an education speech.” What the students needed was a reality check.

As I looked at there young faces, I saw myself. At their age I did not care who would come to speak, I just wanted to go home and watch television. Of course, I did not take the “brutally honest” route but I was very interested in opening their eyes more to the professional world around them.

To sum it up my visit was a success. I explained to the students that one day they will be considered adults and at that point they will need to know their purpose. I explained to them that there is nothing wrong with “researching” what their own personal life goals are. Research is what separates the educated from the non-educated, the experienced from amateurs.

As my talk came to and end, it looked as if I got to the students. But only time will tell. I guess it will be a random day at a random location where I bump into one of the students, and then will I know if my words truly paid off. Until then I will continue to develop and cherish the fragile things in life—like my memories of researching my own purpose at Nicholas Orem Middle School.