When the students of Prairie Ridge High School were told they were to attend a presentation by a guest speaker, they entered the gymnasium on Wednesday, February 3 expecting to be greeted by yet another speaker spewing the same things they had all heard a thousand times before. What they got, however, was the experience of a lifetime. Keith Hawkins came into the school with the intent to change lives, and his audience was not disappointed.

“I am not going to teach you anything,” Hawkins said as he started out his speech. “Everything I’m going to tell you is something you already know. I am here to help you understand.”

And by the time he had finished, that’s precisely what he had done. Throughout his presentation Hawkins connected with the students with hilarious stories from his personal life, each in its own way expressing the importance of kindness, acceptance, friendship, motivation, and the dedication to making yourself into the best person you can be. He challenged students to “be better than good.” He challenged them to be unaccepting of a mediocre version of themselves.

When he shared the experiences of the other high schoolers he had encountered, and even called upon some of PR’s own students to share theirs, Hawkins managed to truly drive home his message that “everyone has a story. [And] it’s impossible to judge someone without knowing what that story is.” As he shared his own story with the crowd, Hawkins managed to connect with the students on a personal level, making his message all the more powerful and causing each student to be truly captivated by his words.

In the end, Hawkins proved himself to be a truly inspirational speaker, and a master of connecting with his audience. And to top it all off, he flaunted his skills as a magician with a trick involving a never-empty glass of water and a cleverly constructed metaphor.

Even so much as a week after the fact, students were still inspired by his message. “I think he was able to connect to teenagers much better than any speaker I’ve seen,” commented sophomore Lauren Losch. “He was really funny and entertaining but still managed to get his message across.”

“I thought he was really motivational, and he inspired a lot of people with his message. But the magic trick was the best part,” reflected sophomore Shannon Batliner.

Some students were even shocked to find how affected they had been by the guest speaker. Joe Thompson, a sophomore admitted, “He wasn’t what I expected. His message was more powerful than any other speaker I’ve seen, and he really made you think about your life.”

Many students were just all-around inspired by what Hawkins had to say. “He made you want to go out into the world and change it and yourself for the better,” stated sophomore Allison Clark.

In addition to the message itself, some students, like Sanjana Nath, just appreciated his realness. “I appreciated how he really made an effort to connect with us as students. He talked to us like equals, not like he was above us,” she said.

Overall, PR was incredibly moved by Keith Hawkins’ presentation. Both students and faculty left the gymnasium that day with an experience none of them would soon forget. Keith Hawkins managed again to leave his mark on Prairie Ridge, and his inspiring and heart-warming messages will stick with the students for a long time to come.