Assessment Day can be tough, but not for this year’s freshmen.

On October 8, speaker and educator Calvin Terrell will deliver a powerful message to the freshmen.

“He is an amazing person who has a lot of energy,” said Freshman Assembly coordinator Bryan Millington. “He is extremely intelligent, well prepared, and very engaging with the way he approaches his lesson.”

“His big message is that people do a lot of things to hurt each other when they are personally dealing with things themselves,” added Millington. “He wants students to move from being cowards to warriors.”

The presentation will focus on bullying, prejudice and diversity. He gives real life scenarios based on how students interact with family, friends, peers and strangers. Over 800 freshmen will listen to Terrell speak today in the auditorium.

“He also has members of the audience shout things back at him to keep them engaged, but then he is really good at redirecting them and keeping them focused,” said Millington. “We have had a lot of various speakers over the years for the Freshman Assemblies, and some of them have been great. But I’ve never been able to see someone capture an audience the way that Calvin can.”

“He was so motivational and inspiring. He said some really powerful things that I will never forget,” said Emily Agnew, sophomore, who attended the assembly last year.

“It’s an incredible experience and we think that it’s going to be a powerful experience again this year,” said Millington. “I’m just really excited that we’re working with Calvin again.”