How to MAXIMIZE student success.

Because the truth is, ladies and gentlemen, that is exactly what is going to happen in your life 5 years from now. That is exactly where you're going to be 10 years from now. You are going to be a world changer. Say this with me, I am a world changer. I am a world changer. And so 5 years from now, 10 years from now, you're going to be doing big things and great things with your life. However, ladies and gentlemen, I must tell you that things aren't going to be easy. There will be times when things will get difficult. There will be times when there will be sudden disappointments that will come up to try to offset you from the trajectory and the path that you're on. There will be times that circumstances will tend to get the best of you. There will be times when life will hit you from the blind side. Life will deal to you a low blow. And I'm going to need for you to be prepared when that moment comes. I'm going to need for you to have your Mike Tyson boxing gloves on when that moment comes. I'm going to need for you to remember that you made a promise to yourself that you would not quit and you would not give up on you. Say this with me: quitting is never an option. Come on, say it like you really, really, really, really mean it. Say quitting is never an option. That's right. That's right. That's right. So when times get hard, you got to keep fighting. Life is a fight, and when life fights you, you have to fight back. So I want to talk to you about how to maximize student success. And so here's the thing that's important to understand: there are 5 things that you can do to maximize student success. If you have pen and paper, I want you to write this down. Number 1: I want you to remember, remember this day, remember this moment, remember that you made a vow, a commitment, a promise to yourself that you would not give up on you. There may be other people that drop out of school, that does not go through to the end, that does not make it to the finish line, but that's not your story, that's not your case, that's not how your story ends. You have to continue on going through, and the way that you do it is remember what your why is. My why is to be the best. Remember your who. Remember that your why is the reason you signed up for college in the first place. Your why is the reason why you jumped on an airplane or on a bus or in a car and came to this conference. Your why is important, and always take your why with you. And when someone asks you why, then you tell them why not. When they say, why are you working so hard? Why not? Why are you giving it so much? Why not? Why are you so passionate? Why not? I take my why with me everywhere I go because my why represents my aspirations. And when times get tough and it seems like that it's going to get worse, I have to remind myself of my why. Then you have to remember your who. Who's depending on you? Yes. Who's counting on you? Your family members are counting on you to change your generation, to impact your family, to build a legacy. Your family members have invested into you. They poured to you. They're standing by you. They love you. They're undergirding you. They're your backbone. They're your vertebrae. They're there for you when no one else is. They are your who. They need you to believe in you. They need you to go the distance. They need you to finish strong. Say this with me: I will finish strong. I will finish strong. And so always remember, always reflect, and always recall the reason you're here from the beginning, the reason you're in college from day one, because you're doing something big and something great and something magnificent with your life. And then number 2, I need you to always be willing to reposition yourself. Say this with me, reposition. Reposition. Reposition. What does it mean to reposition? It means that sometimes you have to adjust your stance and make sure that you're flexible enough to change and adjust to whatever circumstance that comes your way, because things are unpredictable. Life can be very unpredictable. School can be very unpredictable. People can be very unpredictable. Times can be very unpredictable. And so you can't be married to a set system. You can't be married to doing things one way. You got to be flexible And you gotta know how to reposition yourself to adjust to the times and adjust to the circumstances in your life. Whenever a boxer in the MMA arena gets into a ring and they go on to take on an opponent, in their mind they got this opponent figured out, but when they get in the ring, then they realize it's a totally different game. So they have to make sure in order to win the competition that they adjust their techniques and adjust their strategy and reposition themselves so that they can outmaneuver their competitor. And that's how it is with life. Sometimes you just gotta reposition yourself. What does it mean to reposition? It means to change your perspective. Don't always look at life like, why did this happen to me? Why did this happen to my family? And understand that things are going to happen, and when it happens, you got to be able to deal with it, and you still have to be able to win in the end. Life is 10% of what happens to you and 90% of how you react to it. Yes. But if you are flexible enough and you know how to maneuver and change your perspective, then you look at what came against you to destroy you and you turn it around so that it will employ you. You look at what comes against you to break you down and then you turn it around so they can build you up. If you can change your perspective and reposition yourself, then your stumbling blocks, they become your stepping stones. And the things that you go through, you learn how to go through it and how for it to work in your favor. Say this with me: I will reposition. I will reposition to any condition. To any condition. Then number three, I need you to retain. What does it mean to retain? It means to be able to harness the information that you receive. You see, it is true that so many people receive, but not everybody retains. We don't want you to come here and, and having to spend all this great quality time being poured into and being excited and stirred up, and then you go right back out to your hometowns and to your universities, and then you just totally forget about everything that you received here. We need you to make this moment count. We need you to make this moment matter. I need you to make this moment last. I need you to take the information you received back home with you. I need you to take the energy you received back home with you. I need you to take I need you to take the power you receive back to college with you. I need you to take the enthusiasm and the motivation and the encouragement you receive right back home with you so that you can use that as wind beneath your wings to soar to your next level in life. You gotta hold on to whatever it is You have to hold on to it. Have you ever observed an ant before carrying a piece of breadcrumb or some kind of piece of particle of food or something across the floor? The object is 50 times bigger than the ant, but the ant got its little mouth on it and it's just dragging it as much as it can back to its house. And that's how you gotta be when life presents you with an opportunity. You gotta grab hold to it, and you gotta hold on to it, and you gotta just drag it back home. Look at somebody and tell them, drag it home, baby, drag it home. Drag it home, baby, drag it home. Yeah, drag your degree home. Drag your career home. Drag your promise home. Drag your future home. Drag this conference home. Do whatever you gotta do to take it back with you and hold on to it and then implement it. Put it into practice. Make it a part of your day-to-day life. Make it count. Make it matter. Make it fit you in a way that it serves you for the purpose that you're living. And then number 4, I need you to be resilient. I need you to be able to overcome adversity. In 1951, Timex coined this expression about their watch. They wanted everybody to believe they had the toughest watch in the world, so they took that watch and they put it through the test. And after that test, they coined this expression that this watch takes its licking and keep on ticking. Yeah. And when life comes to put you through a test to prove what you're made of, to see if you can stand the test of time, I need you to take your licking and keep on ticking. Amen. Because you can. Because you're made of the material that is stronger than your opposition. You're made of the matter that is greater than adversity. There is nothing that you cannot do in this life that you have when you set your heart, your soul, and your mind to accomplish. If you can overcome adversity, then there is nothing that life can throw you— at you That would stop you from being able to achieve your dreams. Resiliency means to be able to bounce back. To be resilient means to be able to go through whatever happens and it not throw you off course. Does— will it get tough sometimes? Yes! Will it hurt sometimes? Yes! Will you cry sometimes? Yes! Will you get bad news? Yes! Will you have certain diagnoses from the doctors in your life? Yes! Will people that you love and care about die in your life? Yes! But as long as you're breathing, you must rise up again and tell yourself that I am still here. And as long as you're here, you have the opportunity to win in life. Can you look at your neighbor and tell them you are a winner? You are a winner. So take your list. I keep on ticking. Go through what you have to go through to get to where you have to get to. Some doors may close, but as long as you're here, go to the next door. Some people will walk off from you, but as long as you're here, move on to the next person. Some opportunities will be forfeited, but as long as you are here, create your own opportunity because you have what it takes. To make your dream your reality. And then number 5, I want you to reach. Reach means to extend your reach to a place that is beyond, or a position that is beyond where you are right now. You see, ladies and gentlemen, you have the capacity to go beyond your wildest dream. You have the capacity to make things happen. You have the capacity to not only dream big, but to soar high. You have the capacity to reach beyond anything that other folks said you cannot do. Listen, always reach beyond where you are. Dreams, when you have one, visions, when you have one, goals and ambitions, when you have them, they give you the capacity to reach beyond where you currently are. That's right. Maybe you're not where you want to be right now, but when you reach, you're extending your touch, you're extending your capacity, you're extending your vision, you're extending your impact, you're extending your influence, you're extending your power, you're extending your presence. You're saying that there's something there before me that I do not have yet, but I decree that I'm going to embrace it one way or the other. Amen. You're reaching out for something bigger. You're reaching out for something greater. You're reaching out for something better. The very fact that you're in college means that you're reaching. The very fact that you're in this leadership conference means that you're reaching. And as long as you keep reaching, you will embrace the reality of those things you dreamed of. Look at your neighbor on your left or right and tell them, keep reaching, baby, keep reaching. Keep reaching. Don't stop reaching. Don't stop believing. Never stop trying. Never give up. Believe in the power of yourself and tell yourself, without any outside or external support, I have what it takes on the inside to manifest my dreams and my aspirations. See, I would rather reach for the moon, and even if I miss it, I will land amongst the stars. I desire— you go ahead and clap. Always strive to be on top because it's the bottom that's overcrowded. Always strive to be on top. It's the bottom that's overcrowded. I'd rather aim— I'd rather aim at everything and hit nothing than to aim at nothing and hit everything. In other words, if I'm going to live this life, I'm going to live it giving life all that I have. I'm going to go after big things in my life. I don't care who does not believe in me. You can't worry about who does not support you. When you get a dream in your heart, when you get a vision in your mind, when you get an aspiration in your bones, you got to go after it. And even if you don't hit what you're after, at least you're getting further than you were when you started out. It's like this right here. A mile is comprised of 2,000 steps. If I take 666 steps a day, then at the end of the month, I'm a mile beyond where I started out. I'm a mile ahead of those who are sitting back doing nothing. You see, I understand that life is going to replicate your attitude. True. So my attitude toward life is life's attitude toward me. Never allow for other people's opinion of you to dictate your potential or to have control over your destiny, but believe that you are here to do today the things that nobody else will so that you can live the life tomorrow that other folks won't live. You are here to make an impact in this world, and you only have so amount of time, or certain amount of time, to get it done. You have no time to sit back and have a pity party. You have no time to sit back and get discouraged. You don't have time to sit back and go in circles trying to figure out what to do with your life. All the time that you have has been given to you so that you can move forward and make some big things happen in this life. I'll share this quickly. I want to get out of your way. There is— I'm going. She said sorry. There is this tree that grows in China. It's called a Chinese bamboo tree. You have to plant the seed and then water and fertilize the ground for 5 years before you see any evidence of the existence of that tree. So for 5 years, a guy is in his front yard watering this area that apparently has no potential evidence, but yet in his heart and in his mind, he knows He placed something there under that earth, under that ground, under that dirt, and he's now just waiting and working diligently until that tree begins to sprout up. I can see his neighbors coming out after peeping out the window for 5 years and finally wanting to talk to him and say, man, you've been out here all this time, you know, what is going— what is going on here? And he's saying to them, I'm growing a tree. And the neighbor would reply and say, yeah, but Ray Charles and Stevie Wonder can see nothing's growing. That's right. But then he understands that I gotta stay focused on my project and not be dismayed because of a lack of evidence and not be deterred because of people who does not believe in my dream. So he continues to water that ground. Well, after 5 years, ladies and gentlemen, that tree within 5 weeks grows to be nearly 100 feet tall. And that's how things are going to happen in your life. Sometimes it will look like there's no evidence. Sometimes it will look like there's no proof that things are working. But then all of a sudden things are going to sprout up and everybody's going to see that what you've been working on is finally starting to pay off in your life. And what you have to do is just continue to give life all that you have to give, knowing that you are maximizing student success. When, when Simba ran off from home to go and discover himself and met up with Pumbaa and Timon, he had to get the right people in his life to encourage him to go back home and take control Control of the territory and the domain of your life. And you see, you left home to come to this leadership conference so that you can hear Timon and Pumbaa tell you to go back home with the power that you've discovered and the interpersonal qualities that you have and make your dream your reality. Because only you have the power to determine when things are going to happen, how things are going to happen, and that things will eventually happen in your life. Amen. This man is running through the forest. He has this dream that he's being chased by a grizzly bear. He stumbles and falls over a tree root, and when he looks up, the grizzly bear is coming down over the top of him. The man looks up at the grizzly bear and he says, Mr. Bear, are you going to eat me? And the bear stops And replies, "I don't know. This is your dream. Only you can determine how your story ends." Ladies and gentlemen, my name is Rico Sharp. This is good. Only you can determine how your story ends. So walk not in the shadows of those you admire. Pursue your own passion and dare to aspire. Discover your greatness and live a life that inspires. For life is what you make it. When the moment comes, you take it. You be sharp and maximize your moment and make yourself a great life. And think sharp, walk sharp, talk sharp, dream sharp. Rico Sharp. Live sharp, dress sharp, eat sharp, and you will be sharp. I'm Rico Sharp. Thank you.