World Renowned Motivational Speaker Visits School, Inspires Students

On Monday afternoon, Principal Shaw invited Reggie Dabbs–a world-renowned motivational speaker–to talk to the sophomore and junior classes. Dabbs, who is recognized by CNN as one of the top communicators to young people in the world and has spoken to numerous professional sports teams, spoke to the Sparkman family by telling funny stories, interacting with students and playing the saxophone. Many students were just happy to get out of class for a few minutes, but some saw the event as something much larger.

In his speech, Dabbs described the personal struggles he encountered growing up and how he dealt with them. As he explained, in the second grade he learned that his parents were not his real parents and he had been raised by his mother’s favorite high school teacher. It came as so much of a shock that for over a decade after he learned about it he was depressed and suicidal. For years he was blind and searching for meaning, until one day he gave a presentation in front of his college classroom and realized his purpose in life was to spread a positive message worldwide.

Dabbs seemed to be a big hit with the audience that attended the event and his compelling theme appeared to resonate well throughout. During his speech and performance, students participated in the exercises he led, laughed when he cracked a joke and listened intently as he spoke.

“I thought he was a very inspirational and motivational man,” sophomore Nathan Hall said. “I liked how he used past experiences to motivate others to do better in their lives and to not give up.”

Faculty members in attendance were also moved by Dabbs’ words of encouragement and hope. They, as well, engaged in dances, jokes and other games he played with the crowd.

“It was very interesting how he was able to weave in his passion for music, storytelling and comedy into his inspirational message,” teacher Emily Pate said. “I think that Sparkman is a great community and it never hurts to remind us to help one another and to carry each other’s burdens along the way.”

He mentioned that his words were directed not to the thousands of kids in the crowd, but the two or three individuals who may be feeling the same as he did. He advised them to “just keep breathing” and that “you can’t change your past, but you can change your future.” Dabbs’ powerful message is best summarized in the lyrics of one of the songs he performed on the saxophone: Don’t you give up… / I won’t give up… / Let me love you.