- Ask yourself “WHAT DO YOU WANT TO BE WHEN YOU GROW UP?”
- WE RECENTLY CELEBRATED PRESIDENT’S DAY ON MONDAY AND IT WAS AN HISTORIC EVENT BECAUSE IT WAS THE FIRST TIME THAT WE CELEBRATED THIS DAY WITH AN AFRICAN AMERICAN AS OUR PRESIDENT.
· BUT DID YOU KNOW THAT PRESIDENT OBAMA HAD A DREAM TO BE A PROFESSIONAL BASKETBALL PLAYER. FORTUNATELY FOR US HE CHANGED HIS MIND. WE ALREADY HAVE MANY AFRICAN-AMERICAN NBA PLAYERS BUT WE’VE NEVER HAD AN AFRICAN-AMERICAN PRESIDENT.
- BUT WANTING TO BECOME PRESIDENT DIDN’T JUST HAPPEN. HE HAD TO HAVE A PLAN.
· DO YOU REMEMBER PRESIDENT OBAMA’S FAMOUS WORDS DURING THE CAMPAIGN.....YES WE CAN....
· YES WE CAN BUT YOU HAVE TO HAVE A PLAN TO MAKE IT HAPPEN.
- THAT’S WHAT I WANT TO TALK TO YOU ABOUT TODAY
· HAVE A PLAN
· OVERCOMING OBSTACLES
· CHOOSING POSITIVE PEOPLE TO BE AROUND
· MAKING IT HAPPEN
- MY STORY
· I WANTED TO BE A PROFESSIONAL BASEBALL PLAYER
· DREAM OF BEING A WRITER
· EDUCATION
· COLLEGE. RESEARCH WHICH SCHOOLS ARE GOOD IN YOUR FIELD OF CHOICE
· SACRIFICES WILL HAVE TO BE MADE. ALSO REALIZE THOSE WHO CAME BEFORE YOU. THOSE WHO FOUGHT AND IN SOME CASES DIED FOR YOU.
EXAMPLE OF NBA BASKETBALL PLAYERS WHO DIDN’T GET THE SAME PAY, WERE CONSTANTLY SPIT UPON, CALLED ALL KINDS OF NAMES, HAD TO SLEEP IN DIFFERENT HOTELS THAN TEAMMATES AND ALSO EAT IN DIFFERENT RESTAURANTS
· STARTING SMALL. BUT DREAMING BIG
· REALIZE MY DREAM BUT IT TOOK NEARLY 18 YEARS LATER BUT I REACHED IT.
· THE MOST IMPORTANT THING TO REMEMBER IS SOMETHING MY GRANDFATHER USED TO TELL ME. “YOU CAN DO ANYTHING THAT YOU WANT IF YOU PUT YOUR MIND TO IT.” BUT YOU ALSO HAVE TO BE TWICE AS GOOD AS THE NEXT MAN.
- OBSTACLES.
· HAVING AN AFRICAN-AMERICAN PRESIDENT MEANS THERE ARE NO EXCUSES ANYMORE. PRESIDENT OBAMA HAD THREE STRIKES AGAINST HIM: HE WAS BLACK, HE WAS A MALE AND HE WAS RAISED BY A WOMAN.
· HOW MANY OF YOU FALL IN THAT SAME CATEGORY? I FALL IN THAT CATEGORY. I REMEMBER BEING SENT TO A SMALL READING CLASS BECAUSE THEY FELT I NEEDED HELP. LOOK AT ME NOW. I AM A WRITER. I DIDN'T GIVE UP THANKS TO MY MOTHER PUSHING ME. NO IT’S NOT FAIR THAT WE ARE STEREOTYPED BUT YOU HAVE TO BE STRONG ENOUGH TO RISE ABOVE THAT.
- CHOOSE YOUR COMPANY WISELY
· DON’T HANG AROUND PEOPLE WHO PUT YOU DOWN FOR BEING SMART AND FOR GETTING GOOD GRADES
· DON’T HANG AROUND PEOPLE WHO DON’T HAVE THE SAME VALUES AS YOU.
· DON’T HANG AROUND PEOPLE WHO ARE ALWAYS HATING ON YOU OR CRITICIZE YOU ALL THE TIME
· DON’T LET THEM GET IN THE WAY OF YOU REACHING YOUR DREAM.
- OBAMA HAD A PLAN
· AFTER REALIZING THE NBA WASN’T FOR HIM
· HE Graduated from Columbia University and Harvard Law School, where he was the first African American president of the Harvard Law Review.
· He worked as a community organizer in Chicago prior to earning his law degree, and practiced as a civil rights attorney in Chicago before serving three terms in the Illinois Senate from 1997 to 2004.
· He taught Constitutional Law at the University of Chicago Law School from 1992 to 2004.
· Following an unsuccessful bid for a seat in the U.S. House of Representatives in 2000, Obama was elected to the Senate in November 2004. THIS WAS ONE OF HIS MAIN OBSTACLES -
· He delivered the keynote address at the Democratic National Convention in July 2004.
· He talked about running for president but many tried to talk him out. They said he wasn’t ready and that he needed to wait. They also didn’t want him to mess it up for Hilary Clinton. Had he listened to those naysayers, he would not be president. But he chose to dream and have a plan and is now our 44th president.
- CLOSING.
· Rosa Parks sat against inequality so Martin Luther King Jr. could march against it. Martin Luther King Jr. marched for equal rights for so Obama could run for president. And Obama ran for president so that we can fly.
· Yes we have an African American President but it doesn’t mean that everything is going to be easy.
· The work is only beginning. Having an African American president only means you have a better chance. It’s still going to take a lot of work to achieve your dream, so don’t give up.
· And remember, Yes You Can …….BUT YOU HAVE TO HAVE A PLAN AND IMPLEMENT IT TO THE FULL OF YOUR ABILITY !
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