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www.insideHALTO N.com | OAKVILLE BEAVER |Friday, N ovem ber 2 5 , 2 0 1 6 | 12 `I don't want you to be like me' advice on park bench changed his life continued from p.10 Instead, he said he was always met with ridicule -- of his hair, clothes, shoes and home. By age 16, he had lived in 26 different places and was missing 60-90 days of school annually between Grades 4 to 9. He was hanging out with drug dealers, gang members, had broken into his first house at age 11, got a tattoo he still deeply regrets and stole his first car. "I used to sleep on the floors of homeless shelters with no blanket, no pillow, no mattress no food," he said. "I'd be around people who were alcoholics, people who were addicted to drugs, women who were in prostitution." He remembers crying himself to sleep, wondering if there was hope for people there. Then news of his best friend, brutally murdered, hit Scott hard. "When I lost Alex, a huge part of me died with him and I dropped out (of school) because I was absolutely convinced that if he couldn' t make it out, ain' t none of us are going to make it out," he said. "Whether you're black, white, Mexican or Asian, when you live in my neighbourhood, something feels set up for us to fail because every time one of us starts doing better, something always seems to happen." Despite these struggles, Scott, who was one of the original Freedom Writers portrayed in the 2007 movie about a young teacher (played by Hilary Swank) who inspires her class of at-risk students to apply themselves and be all they can be, did turn his life around. Scott said a stranger struck up a conversation with him while on a park bench one day. The man connected with him, encouraged him, and inspired him to write a different story -- to create a new life. "With his own addiction, with his own challenges, with his own problems, he said, `Man, when I look at you, I'm reminded of a younger version of me and I don' t want you to be like me,'" he said. That day, on that park bench, Scott chose to return to school with a new attitude and purpose. "How did you go from being a high school drop-out to being on the honour roll? How did you go from being an ESL student to someone who speaks English quite well? The short answer is I had help from people who are not much different from you," he shared. There were teachers, coaches, a lunch lady and, of course, Ms. G (Erin Gruwell), who inspired all 150 of her `Freedom Writers' to graduate high school and even go to college. Today, Scott has authored three books: Your Next Chapter, How to R.E.A.C.H. Youth Today and Turning the Page, his not-yet-released memoir. He is married, a doting father of three, a pilot and a Ph.D. student. "I share this little bit of my life with you, not to impress you, but to impress upon you that when you see me, you're reminded of your power to change someone' s life," he said. "You're reminded of one conversation on a park bench, one second chance from an administrator, one word of encouragement from a lunch lady, coaches who became father figures to me and an English teacher w ho believed in me before I did. All these little gestures, all these little acts of kindness, acts of love are enough to change the trajectory of someone' s entire life. "W hen you see me, you're reminded that your work can ripple and ripple for generations to come," he said. As he wrapped up his speaking engagement, he said he often hears people telling him, you can' t make people want more out of life, you can' t make people want to do better, much like you can lead a horse to water, but you can' t make it drink. However, as he learned from a Texan, although it is true you can lead a horse to water and you can' t make it drink, you can still make the horse thirsty by throwing some salt in his mouth. "Salt makes horses thirsty and salt makes people thirsty and my favourite book, my greatest influence says you are the salt of the earth," said Scott. "W ho you are, by the way you love people, by the way you believe in them before they believe in themselves is enough to make people thirsty for more out of life." Scott was the keynote speaker at YMCA of Oakville' s Community Breakfast for Peace that saw three 2016 Peace Medallion awards handed out. DO IT YO URSELF Discount Carpet Se Flooring EndTM RO H EVENT BRING IN THIS C O U P O N A N D GET... when you purchase select in-stock carpet *See in store for details. Coupon must be presented at the time ofpurchase. Cannotbe combined with anyotheroffer;expiresNovem ber30,2016. 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