For Great Minds: Inspiring the Community

My school, Emery Weiner, hosts a now annual event called 4M, which stands for 4 Great Minds, For Great Minds. Emery’s goal with this program is to educate and inspire the community with the four motivational speakers. Usually, this program happens every other year so that an Emery student would experience it twice. However, a few members of the National Honors Society enjoy and care about the program so much that they pushed it to be an annual thing. 

This year, our speakers were Lance McCullers, Jr., Marvin Pierre, Abbie Kamin and Ryan Weiss.

Lance McCullers, Jr., pitcher for the Houston Astros, talked about his career path through the minor leagues and how he got to where he is today. He and his wife Kara also created the Lance McCullers, Jr Foundation, which aims to invest time and resources into promoting pet adoptions and raise awareness for shelters and programs while also continuing to work to promote a no-kill world. While all of the students enjoyed what Lance had to say, sports fans were also starstruck and were more than excited to see a professional sports player in person.

Marvin Pierre talked about his experience quitting his job to start the organization Eight Million Stories, which has helped hundreds of black youth boys build relationships in their community, develop life and job skills, strengthen their education, and secure employment.

Eliana Haas, a junior, said that she was, “So happy that NHS made the change for 4M to happen every year. I think it’s important for us to look up to successful individuals who have worked hard to be where they are. My favorite was Marvin Pierre because he was inspirational and I admired how he dropped his successful job to pursue his passion.” 

Abbie Kamin talked about her involvement in politics and running for Houston City Council, while Ryan Weiss, a life coach, gave us some helpful tips and tricks for anxiety and meditation.

I truly enjoyed my last 4M and will miss events like this when I leave Emery.