Joe Fingerhut At CMS
On April 10th, CMS held a growth mindset assembly featuring Joe Fingerhut, a youth speaker who challenges students to “overcome obstacles and be their best selves.” The following reflection was written by an 8th-grade student, Gwen Lockhart.
Joe Fingerhut Reflection – by Gwen Lockhart
When Joe Fingerhut came to our school, I thought all he was going to talk about was excuses. I thought this would just be the same speech as every other one where you just sit and listen to the presentation. I walked down to the gym expecting to do nothing for an hour. I had no idea what I was in for.
When everything settled down and Joe introduced himself, the room just filled with positive energy. Everybody was happy and he got everyone’s attention right from the start. He started off with an “Arm Thing,” as he called it. He started to talk about two words that could keep you from doing exactly what you wanted to do. His stories were so interesting to listen to and everybody was engaged. When he asked for volunteers, almost everyone put their hands up.
Middle school students are not known for being interested in having a growth mindset. When Joe was presenting, you never would have realized that this was what he was speaking about the whole time. He was constantly giving us examples from his life when he asked “How can I?” instead of “I can’t.” The way he presented the concept was so captivating.
Joe was very inspiring to me. Since listening to his presentation, I have had a more positive view of most obstacles in my life thus far. After the presentation, I had many questions, one of which I recently contacted him about. I believe Joe’s presentation is something everyone should hear at least once in their life. My reason being, Joe’s message about growth mindset is not hard to interpret, and after you think about what he is saying, you can really help yourself and others have a more positive attitude.