One minute, the students of PR were roaring with laughter; the next minute, it was dead silent as each and every student was captivated by the words of guest speaker Keith Hawkins. On Friday, September 16th, Hawkins came to Prairie Ridge High School to present a speech during third hour, and this was the exact spectacle that happened several times as he was talking.

“I just want to clarify that I’m not a motivational speaker,” Hawkins explained at the very beginning of the assembly. “I challenge thinking.”

And that’s precisely what Hawkins did. Throughout his speech, students were drawn to every word as he tied his own life experiences with messages regarding education, wealth, motivation, parents, forgiveness, friends, high school status, and most importantly, respecting and helping other peers.

Hawkins’ main message of the presentation was how “people don’t remember what you say, but they remember what you do. [And] people forget what you say, but they never forget how you made them feel.” These lines kept coming throughout his speech in different forms as Hawkins encouraged that students should act kindly to one another, and make everybody feel good about being who they were. His empathy towards the students made it appear as if he understood each individual present.

Some of his advice that enforced this message included how students should “stop being so normal [and] be abnormal”, “stop using words to hurt each other [and] start using words to help each other”, “forgive others”, and “[to] be significant to somebody in this school.”

Many students were moved by the effectiveness of Hawkins’ speech. “I could really relate to what he was thinking and what he was saying with my own life,” admits Callie Schmit, a sophomore.

“Of all the guest speakers I’ve ever seen at any school I’ve been to, [Hawkins] is by far the best one. He changes lives,” Brian Tiedemann, a junior, reflected.

Furthermore, students were amazed by the lessons that they took away from the speech. Brad Simms believed that Hawkins’ message was “pretty powerful. It made me realize that you have to do more for others than think about yourself all the time.”

Overall, PR was very impressed by Keith Hawkins. As he stated towards the end of his speech, “The people who you help… won’t forget you.” The same thing goes for Hawkins. We will never forget his life-lasting and heart-warming messages he has given to PR.