On Thursday, Feb. 23, approximately 800 people packed the Wehr Center for a convocation featuring Coach Carter, famed high school basketball coach.

Bailey Grayvold, senior elementary education major, began the convocation by introducing Carter as she provided the audience with his background story.

One of the first things Carter spoke about regarded work, saying how it’s about the value you add to each hour, not each hour you’re there.

He then continued to give a lot of advice to the audience as he told them, “if you want to get your future canceled, be a chronic complainer.” He said, “a lot of times we think we got problems, but most of the time we are the problem.”

One big point of his speech was to write things down. “If you write things down, they’re 10 times more likely to come true,” Carter said. He then told the audience how he wrote a note that one day there was going to be a movie made about him. He said, “to this day, my mom still has that note.”

Another big point of his speech was about “this game called life” and how “you got to play it.” He continually stated how you have to start living. “You have to smile; you have to have fun,” Carter said. He also said numerous times that you have to “reset your preset.”

Additionally, Carter stated how you have to get things done. He said, “when getting things done, you can’t make excuses; it’s about about discipline. It’s gotta hurt—that’s how you know you’re successful.” He also told the audience to stay away from toxic people as you can’t be successful if you are around them. “Knowledge isn’t power; the execution of knowledge is power,” Carter emphasized.

Toward the end of the convocation, he made everyone stand up, raise both of their hands above their head, then put one hand over their heart and turn around 360 degrees. He told the audience that if anybody asks about his presentation to say that Carter made me rise to my feet, raise my hands, touched my heart and turned me around.

After his speech, the crowd asked a variety of questions. As he walked away from answering questions, he stated, “not all of us can become famous, but always give great service.”

Following the convocation, Carter posed for numerous photos. After, he had lunch with student leaders on campus as he gave them advice on how to improve their leadership skills. That evening, he attended the women’s basketball conference semifinal game, during which Lakeland defeated Alverno, leading them to the NACC tournament final.