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September/October 2011
ACADEMICS
The Lance
Scratch Beginnings author
presents at SAU
Memoirist Adam Shepard came to St. Andrews
on Sept. 29 to share his inspiration for Scratch
Beginnings: Me, $25 and the Search for the
American Dream.
The event was required attendance for all fresh
man and The Lance brings you some of the reac
tions from those students.
What is a motivational speaker and did Adam
motivate you?
Katie Mosca ‘15
To me a motivational speaker is someone who can instill a
sense of “desire” to do or believe in something, in another
person or in a group of people. For whatever reason, motiva
tional speakers have a certain amount of knowledge from past
experiences or formal education to explain and inspire” peo
ple to take a certain action or believe in a certain concept or
ideal. Adam did motivate me. He made me want to work
hard and put forth the effort needed to make my life com
fortable and worth living. More importantly, though, he
made me want to try new experiences, within reason, and as
he said, “Step outside of the box.”
What was die most memorable moment of Adam’s talk?
Sara Hackney ’15
The most memorable moment from Adam’s talk was his
beginning. One would think that he would discuss all of his
PEAK
(Continued from Page 4)
a tiny sprig in the ground. The tree did
what it does best, as best it could, a lit
tle each day. It did not worry about the
storms that might damage it or did it
worry about the other trees. And it
never stopped growing. It was always
patiently making new leaves and pro
ducing its annual blossom. The tree
knew the seasons and lived by them,
always alive and always living and
always content in its given place as a
Dogwood tree.
Memoirist Adam Shepard signs books and speaks ivilh students in front
of the mosaic following his presentation Sept. 29.
accomplishments and how “since I did it, you can too” cliche.
However, this was far from the case. He began by telling us
that we were all failures and how each one of us would fail
miserably throughout our lives. He continued to tell us of all
the many times he had failed but how he took his failures and
made them into his success. When he started off I was
stunned and could not help but ask myself, “Where is he
going with this?” but after about ten minutes of listening to
his inspirational speech I understood. It was a very creative
way to grab the attention of the audience.
What I learned is that a hurried mind
is wasteful and does not advance my
efforts one hour. Instead, I am learning
to approach the same demands of life
with a patient persistence and not a
flurry of activity. The same amount of
work is accomplished and the responsi
bilities are fulfilled and I am still
exhausted and I am left with the same
amount of leisure time. I have found
that my life is clearer, settled and more
enjoyable. Life did not change, but I
did and it has brought me a small dose
of genuine happiness and contentment.
Another major change for me at col
lege was that of an emerging vocation
that I had never considered. Almost
three years out of college, I am prepar
ing to attend divinity school to seek the
vocation of a Presbyterian minister,
something I now see that I can do and
do well. It is also a path that my hurried
and rushed mind would never have
allowed for when I started undergradu
ate studies. Once again I will enter the
academic scene, but this time I hope to
approach it with a much simpler and
settled mindset and enjoy the experi
ence much more than my undergradu
ate time.
“Think GlobaUy, Act Locally”