Friday, Sept. 19, I went to the Grand America for the Leadership Luncheon, hosted by the YWCA, a great non-profit organization in Salt Lake City. At this luncheon, the YWCA honored many women with Outstanding Achievement Awards in various categories- Business, Science, Arts, Education, etc. Here's one quote I heard from one of the honorees that I really liked:
"Surround yourself with people who talk about events and ideas, not people."
-Eleanor Roosevelt
After hearing from each of these women, there was a keynote by Liz Murray. It was, by far, the most moving and powerful keynote speech I have ever heard. I encourage all of you to see her movie "Homeless to Harvard." Liz grew up with cocaine-addicted parents in the slums of New York City. Her mom died from AIDS (from sharing drug needles with strangers) when Liz was 15 years old. Liz lived on the streets, begged and stole until she decided to go back to school. She finished high school in two years (homeless the entire time) as one of the top ten students in her class, and got accepted to Harvard. She was also one of six people who received a scholarship from the New York Times (out of 3,000 applicants)! She is currently finishing her last semester at Harvard with a degree in Psychology.
Her story is incredible. She gave so many intimate details of her life- there were about 1,000 people in the room, but the way she spoke, it might as well have been just us two. She was a phenomenal motivational speaker- funny, personal, and so down-to-earth.
Here are some great quotes that I jotted down from her speech:
Be grateful for what you have.
Don't put blame on others- they can't give you what they don't have. DON'T JUDGE.
I'm not interested in what's reasonable.
If you are looking for what's wrong [in your life], the possibilities are endless.
The last thing I stole were self help books from Barnes & Noble.
Nothing can erase the fact that you have a choice. Your circumstances don't change that.
No one is coming on a white horse to solve your problems- you are in charge of your own life.
Be an angel to someone else. Love your families and pay it forward.
"Surround yourself with people who talk about events and ideas, not people."
-Eleanor Roosevelt
After hearing from each of these women, there was a keynote by Liz Murray. It was, by far, the most moving and powerful keynote speech I have ever heard. I encourage all of you to see her movie "Homeless to Harvard." Liz grew up with cocaine-addicted parents in the slums of New York City. Her mom died from AIDS (from sharing drug needles with strangers) when Liz was 15 years old. Liz lived on the streets, begged and stole until she decided to go back to school. She finished high school in two years (homeless the entire time) as one of the top ten students in her class, and got accepted to Harvard. She was also one of six people who received a scholarship from the New York Times (out of 3,000 applicants)! She is currently finishing her last semester at Harvard with a degree in Psychology.
Her story is incredible. She gave so many intimate details of her life- there were about 1,000 people in the room, but the way she spoke, it might as well have been just us two. She was a phenomenal motivational speaker- funny, personal, and so down-to-earth.
Here are some great quotes that I jotted down from her speech:
Be grateful for what you have.
Don't put blame on others- they can't give you what they don't have. DON'T JUDGE.
I'm not interested in what's reasonable.
If you are looking for what's wrong [in your life], the possibilities are endless.
The last thing I stole were self help books from Barnes & Noble.
Nothing can erase the fact that you have a choice. Your circumstances don't change that.
No one is coming on a white horse to solve your problems- you are in charge of your own life.
Be an angel to someone else. Love your families and pay it forward.
2 comments:
That's awesome Jenn! That convention sounded wonderful. I love all of the quotes too! Oh and thanks for a great cooking night! :)
way to update your blog girlie! Sounds like you are learning all sorts of new things- love the restaurant comment. luvs!
Post a Comment