NEW LONDON -- Reggie Dabbs, a nationally acclaimed school speaker, told high school and junior high students at New London-Spicer that they can be anything they want they to be.
"Your life is a blank page," Dabbs said. "Sometimes people will write on your blank page, even before you're born, but it's still your life."
Dabbs was in New London on Thursday, for two school assemblies and an evening rally. A number of parents, youth pastors, businesses and the school worked together to make the event happen, said Kellie Holm, a counseling intern at the school and a graduate student at St. Cloud State University.
Dabb's life story, how he was born to an unwed teen mother who already had three small children and was taken in by loving and caring adoptive parents, was sprinkled with humor. The message, however, was hard hitting for the students.
Challenging things happen to people, Dabbs told the students, no matter how pretty or smart they are, how much money they have or how good they are at sports.
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"No matter what you go through in life ... and I know the meaning of life ... it's a roller coaster," he said, adding that some days are spent on top of the hill, other days, at the bottom. "Sometimes, they have to fix the ride, but the question is: Will you be on it when it gets fixed?"
In the past year, the school and surrounding communities have suffered from significant losses that are hard for students to understand. Last month, J Stevenson Rambow, 16, died. In September, student Kristina Scholl was critically injured in a car crash near the high school. She was airlifted to Hennepin County Medical Center and treated for brain trauma. Scholl was released from the hospital the week before Thanksgiving and is continuing her physical therapy treatment and attending some classes, according to information posted on her www.caringbridge.com Web site.
Spicer teen Jacob Kieft was critically injured in a June golf cart accident and spent almost two months at Hennepin County Medical Center recovering from a brain injury. He has since returned to school, Holm said.
Dabbs noted that even fictional superheroes like Spider-Man, Batman and Superman have hurt and loss as part of their stories. Spider-Man, for example, had no parents and had just lost his uncle when he got bit by the bug that gave him his super powers.
"They all hurt. Even our superheroes have hurt in their stories," Dabbs said. "If they can make it, then you can make it too." (Is this needed? - Dan)
