“If you’re thinking it’s up to your professors to give you good grades, it isn’t. You earn them.”
So said Colin Stevens, keynote speaker at this year’s Launch into Lander event, held on Friday, August 18.
Stevens, author of the books, “Make Your Mark” and “Coachable,” encouraged the hundreds of freshmen seated before him in the Finis Horne Arena to take ownership of their education, and to accept failure as “part of the journey.”
He cited several examples of people who overcame failures on their way to success, such as NBA Hall of Famer Michael Jordan, who at one point was cut from his high school basketball team, and moviemaker Walt Disney.
Although Disney’s early work was stolen, and he was repeatedly turned down for the loan he needed to establish his company, “he kept going,” Stevens said.
Like Jordan and Disney, he told the audience, “you’ve got to keep going. You’ve got to continue putting in the time.” By doing so, he said, “you give yourself a chance to be great.”
Following Stevens’s address, sponsored by the Student Life Office, the Student Experience and Quality Assurance Office, and Lander’s LINK program, the freshmen in attendance posed for a group picture in front of Laura Lander Hall. They were then treated to a picnic, where they were able to meet Lander faculty and staff members.