As a young man, Galen Kerrick was mercilessly bullied.
Students would call him “Gaylord” and treated him badly for no discernible reason. When chosen by his English teacher to read the part of Romeo, he overhead one girl say to another: “Eew, I can’t believe Galen is being Romeo.”
All the bullying shattered his self confidence and he stopped pursuing what he felt passionate about, like singing.
Kerrick, a motivational tour speaker with Free the Children, spoke to around 600 Lindsay Thurber Comprehensive High School students at the Memorial Centre on Wednesday, along with his colleague Britta Badour.
It wasn’t until Kerrick had a supportive group of friends in university who encouraged him to follow his passions that he truly thrived.
He shared his vocal gift with students, performing the John Legend song If You’re Out There on Wednesday.
Badour, the other motivational tour speaker, has always been a leader in sports, students union and other activities, but it took until university to realize she could also express herself through poetry.
She started going to open mic nights and poetry slams when she attended Wilfrid Laurier University, doing spoken word and she shared a poem on Wednesday.
Kerrick and Badour encouraged students to make use of their own gifts.
He told students that they may wonder what they have to offer if they’re not the best at something. “What matters is you go out and be the best that you can be,” he said.
Kerrick said now he speaks for people who don’t have a voice as part of Free the Children.
The organization started in 1995, after founder Craig Kielburger at the age of 12 read about a boy of the same age who was killed in Pakistan for trying to help children enslaved in a carpet factory.
Kielburger encouraged students in his class to stop child poverty and exploitation and Free the Children was born and now helps in 45 countries.
The presenters also worked with the Lindsay Thurber IB Helpin’ You group to further their leadership skills, work on action planning and issues awareness on Wednesday afternoon. Chandra Curry, a senior member of IB Helpin’ You, said the group is raising money to adopt a village in Ecuador. She said she enjoyed how the speakers showed how little things can make a big difference.
sobrien@www.reddeeradvocate.com