By Heather Bench/reporter
Students who attended a seminar last week had a chance to boost their own confidence when the speaker told them to stand up, spread their arms out and repeat the phrase “I deserve the best” three times.
Motivation was the goal of Robert Criner, who told the room full of students at the How to Keep Yourself Motivated speech “to see, to expect and achieve your greatness.”
The speech held Sept. 23 on NW Campus felt at times more like an inspirational hour in a church than a college seminar.
“If your attitude is positive, great things will happen to you,” said Criner, who also goes by the name Mr. Enthusiasm. “Just walk around campus and smile.”
Criner’s mission whenever he speaks to any audience is to help people discover their personal greatness and become the best they can be, according to his Web site, MrEnthusiasm.com. He has been a motivational speaker since 1990 and frequently works with six other universities in the area, such as the University of North Texas in Denton and Southern Methodist University in Dallas. He was inspired to become a motivational speaker by the book The Power of Positive Thinking, he said.
“My passion is working with individuals like you,” Criner told students. “You have to develop a positive mental attitude. Whatever you are seeking is also seeking you.”
Some students like Gertrude Matamba came to the seminar for the free pizza but stayed because she said she “needs to get motivated.”
NW student Elizabeth Gonzalez attended because she thought it would be interesting to hear how to stay interested.
“Staying focused is my problem,” she said.
Like Matamba, Gonzalez and others, NW Campus student Koreshian Oglesby also came for free pizza but got more out of the event.
“I wanted to get more information about how to do better in class,” Oglesby said.
