Hard Work, Determination, and Persistence: 3 Keywords in Life

“Things don’t just happen, You make them happen!”- Sean Greene

9:00 a.m. CST – Roosevelt High School was my first stop today.  My goal was to inspire and motive all
700 students listening to my speech.  There were four important points I wanted leave them with. They
were:
1)         To “NEVER give up because There is Always a Way”.
2)         It’s not what happens to you that matters, it’s how you choose to respond   to what happens that
is important.  Make good decisions! Make it happen! Like Nike says “Just Do It!”
3)         The only failures are the ones who don’t learn from their mistakes. Our kids tend to want to quit
too soon. I encourage and try to motivate and inspire them to “Never Give Up! There is Always A Way!”
with hard work, determination, and persistence anything is possible to bring out the champion that lies
within us all.
4)         Greatness is all around you.  Do not be afraid to ask for help from someone who is successful at
something that you want to do. I personally sought professional coaches to help me bring out my
message of “Never Give up!” like Coach Bill Synder at Kansas State University. Another coach was Tony
Robbins, who is an author, successful coach & founder of Robbins Research International. I attended his
two week seminars as I strived to be the best person, author, athlete and motivational speaker I could
become.

 I encouraged the students to improve a little each day and keep a journal to track their challenges and
improvements. By keeping a daily journal, they can identify areas they need to improve and have
accountability to make the necessary changes. When they look back at the journal they can see that
even small improvements each day when added all up can move mountains. For the “Fitness 4 All 50
State Tour”, we will be providing the youth, teachers, and parents with the daily accountability journals
to they can keep track of their fitness and nutrition choices. When I’ve followed up with students at
other schools that took this advice to heart I’ve always found it was a strategy that really worked to
improve their success in school. 

At the end of my talk, I presented an autographed copy of my book, “There’s Always a Way”, to the
school’s library. This book is very inspiring and I know that many people will benefit from reading it. **If
you would like to order the book you can find it in my store on my website www.kevinsaunders.com ** I
really enjoyed my experience at the school.  The students were great and were very interested in
hearing about the Tour and what I had to say.  I believe education is the foundation to all
accomplishments and I encourage everyone to keep learning throughout their lives. Learning new things
helps keep a sense of wonder and discovery within us and keeps us young.  I learned lessons of life from
Coach Bill Snyder who orchestrated “the greatest turnaround in college football history” at Kansas State
University. I’m passionate about learning and strive to pass that excitement on to students whenever I
present as an educational and school speaker.

10:15 a.m. CST – We head to Beaumont High School, where I spoke to a much smaller group of about 70
students.  I really enjoy interacting so closely with students. I like getting a chance to hear what they
 Hard Work, Determination, and Persistence: 3 Keywords in Life

have to say, getting to know their concerns and being able to give them the tools to overcome any
challenges they might face. Many students and teachers have told me I really made a difference in their
lives and their quest for an education and nothing makes me feel better. The school principal gave Dora,
Andy, and I a “Not at Beaumont” t-shirt.  This was the principal’s most popular quote.  I also presented
this school with a signed copy of my book, There’s Always a Way, as well as a copy of my comic book.
Once my book Revolutions is done (the story of my journey across the country pushing my wheelchair
spreading ) I’ll be sure to get them a copy of that as well.

INSERT CPLT CLIP with kids in the classroom