Fear. Despair. Doubt.
Arel Moodie knows what it is like to have these feelings, and he was open in sharing this with the high school seniors at the SJCOE County Operated Schools and Programs (COSP) Leadership Symposium.
He described growing up in poverty in Brooklyn, but his story is also about how he overcame obstacles and went on to become an entrepreneur who built a million-dollar event production and education company while in his 20s.
"If you change your perspective, you change your life. Period," he said.
It was a central idea behind the daylong symposium. More than 100 students from the one.Program and from the Discovery ChalleNGe Academy were at the symposium, held at the University of the Pacific on Feb. 14.
The daylong event included both presentations and workshops. This year's symposium also had a new focus.
"We decided to do something a little different this year and really focus on college readiness," said Doug Silva, COSP coordinator. "We decided to bring in a speaker who could work hands-on with students and really inspire students to believe in themselves and know that they can accomplish whatever it is they want to do through hard work."