A news report by Eric P
On September 9th, 2008, students at Belle River District High School were in for a very special surprise. First off, we were all getting out of fourth period, which always seems to put every student in high spirits, and secondly, we were having motivational speaker, Andrew Thibodeau, present to the school.
Thirty-eight year old Andy Thibodeau has been touring North America for the past sixteen years of his life sharing his message of “getting involved.” His basic goal is to convince students to get involved in high school and not be afraid of failure. Thibodeau tells pupils about his high school mistakes as a way of motivating others to get involved. He speaks of how he skipped football tryouts and student council meetings because of fear of failure, which are things that he deeply regrets. Later on in his senior years, Thibodeau found the courage to get more involved in school and ask more questions in class, which eventually lead him to be the motivational speaker he is today.
When grade twelve student, Jennifer Cochrane, was asked about what she thought of Thibodeau, she responded, “I thought that he portrayed a very good message, especially towards the grade nines, in a humorous way that all high school students can relate to.” All in all, Andy Thibodeau did indeed motivate most students to get involved, forget the fear of failure, and not to mention, put their hands up in class.
