Harmon hits Heights with powerful message

Hamilton Heights Middle School seventh-grader Sam Dawson (left) stands with Nathan Harmon, the nation’s top-booked school motivational speaker. (Photo provided)

Inspirational speaker Nathan Harmon was so well received last year, he returned to spend the day with students at Hamilton Heights Elementary, Middle and High schools on Thursday. Harmon touched on a variety of topics that were timely, relevant and hopefully, life-changing including making good choices, what a real friend is, achieving goals and overcoming obstacles. He shares directly from his own personal experiences in a profound way that truly reaches students of all ages.

“Good choices have amazing results” was one of his main messages, speaking from the perspective of having made poor choices in the past and lived to share them. He emphasized the need to make wise choices and how their top daily priorities can change their lives, emphasizing that “broken crayons color just as well as new ones.”

“We all are broken, but we can pick up the pieces and make good choices,” Harmon said.

“Just like last year Nathan Harmon was inspirational and energetic,” said Hamilton Heights senior JP Etchison. “You could see the connections he made with the students.”

Jackson Cantlon, a fifth-grader at Hamilton Heights Elementary School, thought the convocation was great. “He was funny and energetic and kept us all engaged because he moved around so much.”

Sam Dawson, a seventh-grader at Hamilton Heights Middle School, agreed and added he thought the speaker is a really good person overall. “He changed my life for the better and I would recommend his message to anyone who wants to be a better person.”

Harmon, the No. 1 booked school speaker in the United States, speaks from the heart and from real-life experience. He shares hurts from his past, which included his parents getting a divorce; which led to drug addiction, alcohol abuse, self-harm and driving under the influence, which resulted in the death of his passenger and ultimately a prison sentence. After being released from prison, Harmon made the choice to become a speaker and work to help young people learn how to alter the course of their life for the better.

“I was a broken dude who took control of my mistakes,” said Harmon.

Harmon’s program was sponsored by Hamilton Heights Youth Assistance Program.

To read more about Nathan Harmon and his message, visit yourlifespeaks.org.