Season 2 Bonus Episode Lee College 2015 "Empower Me" Conference
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Lee College, Baytown, TX www.lee.edu

The average person has 24,869 days on Earth. At the inaugural Empower Me Conference held Aug. 28 on campus, keynote speaker Rev. Antonio Smith, Jr., posed a challenge to the more than 100 students in attendance: use those days to be anything but average.

“Time is counting down; if you want to be forgotten, be average,” said Smith, known as Rev. Tony, who pastors the Church for the Unchurched and Without an Umbrella Ministries in La Marque. “If you’re going to empower yourself, you have to know that you are worthy of every one of your dreams. Every minute, you’re either going toward your dreams or moving away from them. Your job is to die empty — don’t die with dreams.”

Sponsored by the Black Education Access Completion Committee and the office of Dr. Cathy Kemper-Pelle, the free Empower Me Conference was an opportunity for students and others to gain knowledge and insights about how to better navigate and order their lives. Conference topics covered everything from credit scores and investing, to the legal system, sexual assault and domestic violence, and overall health and wellness.

Featured presenters at the daylong event included Macie Schubert and Mike Dahlquist of Community Resource Credit Union; Bredawn Riley of Voya; Thecia Jenkins of The Bridge Over Troubled Waters, Inc.; David Jaroszewski of the Lee College Paralegal Studies Program; and Kellie Rivera of SEARCH Homeless Services.

Smith blended the laws of physics and inspirational theology to encourage students to think positively and be themselves, no matter the obstacles they face. Rather than hoping to gain wisdom solely by learning from their mistakes, he advised them to seek the counsel of others who had been in their shoes and lived to tell the story.

“Your job is to know who you are and be that,” said Smith, warning the students to be wary of those who would try to bring negativity into their journey — even if that included their own family and friends.

“You are power unlimited,” he said. “You are the greatest person to ever step into your body. You have been amazing and you always will be amazing. Nobody will do you better than you can do you. Look at your life and know it’s about more than just your circumstances. There’s not a rain cloud in the world that will rain on your situation forever. What you have in you is exactly what you need.”Support this podcast at — https://redcircle.com/brick-by-brick-with-antonio-t-smith-jr-and-tempestt-smith/donations)Advertising Inquiries: https://redcircle.com/brands)Privacy & Opt-Out: https://redcircle.com/privacy)