On Mon. Jan. 25, there was an assembly just for the freshman. All of the freshman students missed their seventh bells to attend the speaking of James “Scoonie” Penn.
Penn is a former basketball star from the Ohio State University where he led his team to the NCAA National Championship Final Four. He was drafted in the 2000 NBA Draft to play for the Atlanta Hawks.
He played professional basketball for 11 years until he became a public speaker after his retirement.
His presentation called “Game Changers” focused on how sports can help in one’s personal life, not just athletically.
Freshman David Sung said, “He was very genuine when he spoke. Everything that he said connected to me personally and inspired me to dream bigger!”
One of his main points of emphasis was about dreaming.
Penn said, “If you tell someone your dream and they do not laugh at you, then your dream is not big enough. Dream bigger and do not let anyone tell you that you can not accomplish your dream, because you can!”
Students connected to Penn on a personal level because of his anecdotes. One of those anecdotes was about him skipping class to hang out with his friends, and when his coach found out, he made him run a lot.

Sung said, “He spoke with such energy to everyone. He talked about how everyone at some point makes a mistake, but that it is your choice as a person to learn from those mistakes and be better.”
He learned to never do that again and that school is more important than hanging out with your friends. This life lesson can be applied to all of the freshmans’ personal lives, not just the athletes.
As Penn said, “Success is what you see it to be. Not in someone else’s eyes. So dream big.”