By Misti DeHart/ nw news editor

John Leguizamo, actor and author of Ghetto Klown, said he believes he’d be “in jail or worse” if not for his mentors throughout his teenage years and early 20s.

From the roar of the crowd Nov. 10, NE students seemed pleased with the presence of Leguizamo for the third National Society for Leadership and Success live-streaming webcast.

“Luckily, I was blessed that way,” he said. “I had lots of people saying, ‘You can do better with your life. You should just focus, man.’ I had this one professor who let me know that if they can make penicillin out of moldy bread, then something could be made out of me.”

The hourlong broadcast, streamed to nearly 500 colleges nationwide, gave students the chance to ask him questions via Twitter, Facebook and webcam.

NE student Alexandra Kastner felt she got quite a bit from the presentation.

“I just really liked it when he said not to worry about what other people think, that the journey is different for everybody, that there’s no chance you’re gonna make everybody happy anyways, so it’s important to focus on your own dreams even if there are people whose opinions are sometimes discouraging,” Kastner said.

NE student services coordinator Cara Walker was pleased with the turnout.

“This last time, we had probably 60 more students than [the webcast] before,” she said. “I think it’s in part because, at least the last time, the students, of course, were excited to hear [from] Jesse Eisenberg. Or maybe it’s because of the free popcorn! But yeah, we’re really pleased with the responses we’ve been getting on our campus.”

The NSLS will feature a similar series in the spring, featuring women of influence. Guests will include journalist Juju Chang, COO of Cinnabon Kat Cole and entrepreneur Janice Bryant Howroyd, the first woman of color in the U.S. to own and operate a billion-dollar company.

For more information regarding the NSLS or future webcasts, contact Walker at cara.walker@tccd.edu.