Powerful speech moves emerging leaders to take action

Silvana Bautista, Web Co-Editor

Go Green club’s president, Jeremy Tongpalan, found Kim Gennaula’s speech very interesting. Gennaula gave a speech at the leadership conference concerning perseverance. Her speech included the many failures of President Abraham Lincoln.

Lincoln, the sixteenth president of the United States, faced a lot of hardships in his life. This included losing his mother and his child. Also, Lincoln had run for office many times and failed before finally becoming president.

Tongpalan said he was moved when he heard about Lincoln’s many hardships. By including Lincoln, former news anchor Gennaula showed Tongpalan that even highly acclaimed historical figures face failure, move on and improve. Gennaula. who now heads Aloha United Way, gave students like Tongpalan a vision that anything is possible if they work enough for it.

In addition, Tongpalan said he believes leadership is important. He said that courage, thinking outside of the box and taking risks are important for a leader.

After listening at the leadership conference, Tongpalan said it was important to “dream big, shoot high and be different.”