cannot read this is the story that I had
of myself at the age of six years old
because of a temporary foster care
staying all of this change with the
power of one no one know that changed
everything one know that cost me nothing
and the one known that made me and to
the man I am today that is the no to
failure see the man that you see in
front of you with two degrees couldn’t
read at the age of six years old because
of a story it was a story that I
believed and thought that was going to
always be the case and so um all this
changed my mother telling me how to say
no to my story and seeing all of us have
a story why we are the way we are you
know our weight our economic status and
that’s just how we think we’ve always
done and so today I may have to say no
to your story now early explorers we’re
famous in history because they helped to
discover America and the territory of
America and so I’m going to do that for
you today and you’re a territory in
three steps so first off we’re going to
talk about first realize where your
stories from 20 motivation why do you
want it and then three your action plan
and so I to start off where my story
came from I was six years old and was in
a classroom and was told to read out
loud and I’m presenting reading the book
and I’m trying to read
with the kids they called each kid I
couldn’t read I couldn’t figure out so
the kids asking me and I couldn’t
formulate any of the words in at the
paragraphs and I just couldn’t so my
teacher she SAT with me a couple of
times try do some other assessments with
me and for some reason I just could not
get it it just couldn’t it just wasn’t
nothing was working so she talked my
mother and my mother was like you know I
know he can do it so give me a little
bit and we’ll we’ll revisit this so she
took me home and we talked about it we
sat down at the kitchen table and cook
my favorite thing pork chops you want to
get on my good side you make some
workshops we got it or good now but she
sat down with me and she began to ask me
to read and for some odd reason I just
could not read it and so she asked me
his work I know you can read him now you
know I don’t know if you know this but I
was a very big boy it’s very very big
boy so I could refuel ate when I was
really good at that so she knew that I
could somehow I wasn’t so she began to
ask me she said what’s going on I know
you can what’s going on so I began to
cry because I was always training back
to that foster care staying when I was
with my foster mother and she was kind
of like the karela deville a foster
mother’s and she just run you over and
talked to your crazy and all kind of
stuff so that’s why I believe that’s
what i believed and I just thought that
was just always I was stupid I couldn’t
do it so she said well is it I don’t
care what someone told what she told you
I’m telling you you can do it and I’m
telling you that you are smart so once I
started realizing where my story was
from then the second part was I started
to say why why I do better now because I
was a big kid I did like to eat so she
would give me incentivize me by giving
me treats she said hey you know if you
do this I’ll finish it I’ll do this this
that and make it really easy for you so
I mean I
like oh okay well i like to eat so let
me we can talk about it so she started
to incentivize me give me reasons to do
better we started to read paragraphs we
started to go over different words and
as I figured out that why the motivation
for that she you know really incentivize
me with not only just food but different
things if I could just read a book I
would go out and play and different
stuff like that so that was my why so I
started reading books I started real up
reading different novels and my reading
accelerator very quickly and so in your
motivation why do you want to do it you
have to find a why it could be your kids
it could be a certain goal level as far
as economic status it could be it could
just be hey I just want to prove
everyone wrong so you have to have a why
as to why you want to do it and then
next an action plan an action plan as to
where you are to where you’re going want
to be so with the action plan she we
would go over the different things
that’s four words my books and so the
action plan was to we read a book a week
and then the books get bigger and longer
we started to read different go over
different words words of the day and my
reading accelerate very fast until I was
knowledge to pass the other kids but I
was to a point of being tested for
gifted classes and honors and all of
that so we first realized where my story
was from great you know why do you think
this way motivation for the next level
and then an action plan for where I want
to be and so with that I’m able to say
let’s start today by saying no to
failure and yes to success thank you
you [Applause]