I always say that students are our why. And, that has meaning for me, because my teachers made me feel like I was their why.
I experienced some really hard things in life. And I didn't let them knock me out. They may have knocked me down, losing my mother the first day of finals my freshman year was something that knocked me down. My GPA suffered as a result of that, and I had to work really hard to get it back up.
You know, I've encountered hard things yet and still, I persisted. And so what I want our students to know is you're going to experience ups and downs. But you have to keep going. I need you to believe in you. We can believe in you but it doesn't mean a thing if you don't believe in you.
