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From despair to redemption...
By the time he was 16 years old, Manny Scott's life was pretty much over. His father was in prison, and his mother was a victim of physical abuse.
From fourth to ninth grade, he was typically missing 60 to 90 days of school each year. By the time he dropped out during his freshman year, his grade-point average had dropped to 0.6.
Strung out on drugs and filled with bitterness, despair and hatred, he had lived in 26 places over a span of two years. Violence on the streets had also claimed the life of his best friend.
But that was then. Today, his life is filled with optimism, hope and a chance to set things right. It's this message that he shared with students from Mountain Home High School and Mountain Home Junior High School during a visit last Thursday.
During his 90 minute presentation, Scott highlighted how he had reached rock bottom and climbed back.
It all started on a park bench.
Sensing that the end of his life was near, he sat down and considered how he could make others feel the same depths of despair and angers that raged inside his soul.
"When I look back, I now see that I was heading down a path that would have destroyed me," he told the hundreds of students that packed into Lloyd Schiller Gymnasium.
That's when a chance encounter with a complete stranger helped Scott resurrect his life. The stranger recalled how he too had lost "the good life" due to drugs and violence and was now striving to put his own life back together.
"Just because you live in the 'hood,' the 'hood' doesn't have to live in you," the man told Scott as they sat and talked. "You can't control what happens to you, but you can control your response."
Before he left, the man encouraged the teen to write a different story -- to create a new life.
"You can create a future better than your past," the man said. "You can become the father you never had and the man you've never met."
Inspired by what he heard and filled with a new purpose, Scott's life turned around. He ended up in an English class taught by Erin Gruwell. Her students would become part of a group known as the Freedom Writers. Scott's life and the lives of those other students were highlighted in the 2007 movie of the same name.
By the end of his first semester back in school, he earned five As and two Bs on his next report card. The change in his grades were not simply because he was smart.
"It was because I was hungry -- hungry for something more in life," he told students here.
But for his life to change, Scott admitted that it had to start with him. After high school, he went on to college where he earned two degrees in addition to a master's degree and is currently working on his doctorate.
"I shared my life story to not impress you, but to impress on you some invaluable lessons that could literally change the quality of your lives forever," he said.
People can overcome tremendous challenges to reach something great in their lives, regardless of what life throws in front of them, Scott added.
But as he spoke, he knew many of the teens in the audience were hurting deep inside for many different reasons -- from troubles at home to being bullied. At one point, he asked students to stand if they had ever considered committing suicide.
About 200 students stood up, including those attending school at the junior high school.
It was there that Scott shared with students his message of hope and the need to look out and care for others.
"You have more in common than you have in differences," Scott said.
He also urged the teens to respect others and to stop bullying others or to call people names. Simply put, words can inflict an incredible amount of pain. Many of these individuals are hurting, and many times it's someone you wouldn't expect, he emphasized.
Scott's message focused heavily on encouraging teens to get the most from their education. He knew some of the teens seated in the audience had "checked out," meaning they were not focused on getting their education. They were too busy texting or doing something that wasn't going to help better their lives.
"Why are you taking this opportunity for granted," he asked them. "I beg you to take advantage of this excellent school."
School offers something that children in other parts of the world only wish they could have, Scott added.
He told them about a trip he took to Egypt in which he saw a group of children lying on graves at a cemetery. When he asked why they were there, the tour guide responded that these children were all orphans that were sleeping on the graves of their parents since they had no where else to live.
That's when one of the children stood up and looked up at Scott. The expression on that child's face spoke volumes.
"That kid would've done anything to be in this school," he said.
In his closing comments, Scott shared with the teens a message relayed from his younger brother. While his brother had the same opportunities as Scott to make a difference in his life, it came too late.
Falling into the same trap of drugs and violence, Scott's brother is currently serving two consecutive life sentences for attempting to murder two police officers. When they last talked, his brother asked for just one favor: To tell others of his fate and to urge them not to follow in these same steps.
"Tell them it's not worth it. Tell them that they still have the freedom to make their own choices," Scott said as he relayed his brother's own words.
After the presentation, the students expressed their feelings in very personal ways. Some cried openly. Others hugged one another for support. A few more held back tears but admitted they were still overcome with emotions.
"This has go to be the most amazing thing that's happened at this school," said Jennifer Strohm, one of the counselors at the high school.
Strohm was amazed at how many students had remained in the gym for more than an hour in hopes of talking to Scott.
"They're still dealing with it," she said.
For students like senior Grant Ekdahl, they enjoyed how Scott reached out to every student on a very personal level.
"I thought it was very powerful," Ekdahl said.
For others like senior Asia Sirmans, the one message that meant the most was that people like her must choose to stand up and be brave.
"That takes a lot and it doesn't come easy," she said.
For others like Kyrsandra Straw, an eighth grader at the junior high school, the message really hit home on a very personal level.
"It's very hard for me. "I'm trying to put another family back together," Straw said.
With two friends standing next to her, the tears flowed as she discussed her family's issues in which her biological father lives far from here. At times, she admitted that she felt abandoned but came to realize that she has friends and siblings that she can turn to for strength and support.