Motivational Speaker Presents to TRIO DC Members at Lake Land College

Motivational speaker and former NFL player Harvie Herrington spoke to members of TRIO Destination College this month at Lake Land College. TRIO Destination College provides academic, career and financial counseling to participants and encourages them to graduate from high school and continue on to complete college.

Herrington offered words of advice to the attendees based on personal experiences from his own life.

“You’ve got time, go find out what you want,” Herrington said. “To achieve success you have to have a dream, goals, education, you’ve got to be willing to work and you can’t be afraid to fail.”

Encouraging the participants to actively work toward their goals, Herrington also urged the attendees to practice self-care when doing so.

“No one knows what you can do, so it’s silly to say you can’t,” Herrington said. “Things happen to people. It’s up to you to change it. Be selfish enough to care about yourself.”

Herrington’s message especially resonated with TRIO DC member Aidan Blackburn, Mattoon, who said it was inspiring to hear what Herrington had to say.

“It was interesting to hear about his background and how he built his life up to be in the NFL,” Blackburn said. “It’s going to stick with me how he told us to just keep working toward our dreams and goals.”

Rylee Elmandorf, Mattoon, echoed Blackburn’s sentiments, saying Herrington’s background and outlook on life really moved her.

“It’s how he’s like ‘I’ve been there, and I don’t want to see anyone else go through that,’“ Elmandorf said. “I want to be that kind of person, the one who will just be there for you.”

Also acknowledging the inspiration in Herrington’s message, Logan Blackburn, Mattoon, said it was good to hear that Herrington was successful after overcoming so many obstacles in his life.

“With all his injuries he kept going and pushing through,” Logan Blackburn said. “I think a big thing he said was to just follow your dreams.”

One of the concepts Herrington discussed was personality types using the DiSC assessment, in which each letter stands for a different set of characteristics common in that category. Herrington shared that understanding which traits were more dominant and which were less, he was able to better interpret his own feelings and mentalities to benefit his lifestyle.

“When he started talking about the ‘I’ type, I said ‘That’s me.’” Lillian Baldwin, Paris, said. “It made me think about that in a new way.”

TRIO Destination College staff members work collaboratively with partner schools, parents, teachers, counselors and community outreach organizations to identify and assist junior high and high school students who meet eligibility criteria and have the potential to succeed in higher education.

Housed at Lake Land College, TRIO Destination College is a grant funded by the United States Department of Education to serve high schools and middle schools in Brownstown, Casey-Westfield, Cowden-Herrick, Mattoon, Pana, Paris, Ramsey and St. Elmo. For more information visit lakelandcollege.edu/triodc.