By Staff Writer: James Edwards
A 16-year-old girl with cancer, a boy with no friends, a man with only six months left to spare… all of which were stories shared at the inspiring and emotional speech by Jim Tuman as he spoke to promote suicide awareness throughout the halls of Howell High School for two days, on February 5 and 6. At the end of this powerful program, all students and staff were assured that there was no topic in their lives left uncovered and not one heart left untouched.
Jim Tuman is a world-renowned speaker who has worked in all corners of the world, even being the keynote speaker at a 9/11 anniversary program in New York, his home state.
On Wednesday, Mr. Tuman spoke to the junior and senior classes for over two class periods. On Thursday, he repeated his message to the sophomores and freshmen. Speaking to a packed auditorium each day, Tuman made sure his voice was heard, with loud and engaging speech. He started his program with the simple question of, “Who is the most important person in your life?” Though he repeated it a few times, an elementary question that got the students thinking. “Now why didn’t I hear anyone say that the most important person in their life is yourself?” he demanded from the crowd of confused students. Walking into this assembly, no student had a clue what was coming at them.
Tuman paced the auditorium as he spoke, pausing to allow students to respond into the microphone to questions he posed. It felt as if he was talking personally to each person in the crowd. One could make an argument that he actually did just that. Not only did he command answers from the crowd, he even asked a student to tear his $20 bill right in half, which, after some peer pressure, he did reluctantly. Tuman then obtained the bill and proceeded to rip it to shreds, asking students why they care so much about money in their lives when they know that they will NEVER have enough. “Why do we put this on such a high pedestal in our society? If you make this (holding the money to the crowd) your life’s motivation, you will never, ever be satisfied,” Tuman said.
When he asked for answers to his questions, he truly tested the crowd to go deep inside and pull out meaningful answers. He made his way around the whole auditorium with questions like, “Why is the divorce rate so high in America?” or “What makes your best friend so great?” I’m sure the staff members present were surprised to hear the whole-hearted responses that are normally considered far beyond the maturity of high school students. The talent of the speaker may have contributed to these replies, or maybe this speech was finally triggering that sincere emotion that many high school students lack, but that was the meaning of this whole assembly, right? It was common that day to see some students shedding tears as Tuman shared his heartfelt and deep stories to the audience. He went beyond his allotted time in the auditorium and kept speaking as students were leaving the room, revealing how passionate he was and how strongly he felt about the topic that was discussed.
Jim Tuman left an impact that can last a while in some of Howell High’s students. It will be hard to forget the way he used his voice and emotion to convey his message to the audience. It’s safe to say we all figured out just why he was a world-renowned speaker. This man helped us to finally open our eyes and inspired some of us to go out and help a student in need, or to tell our loved ones just how we feel about them. On behalf of all students and staff from Howell High School, thank you Mr. Tuman, for what you did for us on that day.
