Leave a legacy, students told

“It’s good to have a plan, but even better to write it in pencil because you never know what God may have in store for you.”

Kelsey Smith

“How many of you have a plan?” asked Kelsey Parmenter Smith, chief executive officer of NWA Brand, addressing honors and high honor graduates as the guest speaker at the Scholarship Luncheon Thursday.

She said many years ago, she heard a quote that she has adopted.

“It’s good to have a plan, but even better to write it in pencil because you never know what God may have in store for you.”

Smith said she began school at Pea Ridge in kindergarten and graduated from here. She asked the group who had also spent their entire school career in Pea Ridge. Several, including the school counselor Courtney Hurst, raised

their hands.

“I was that super annoying person,” she said, “who kept getting their name called.”

Smith said she applied for absolutely everything because she was afraid.

“My parents didn’t go to college and I had no one to

mentor or guide me,” she recalled. “I was definitely afraid … and so I applied for everything. I didn’t know what to expect.”

She said she had four lessons she wanted to share with the soon-to-be graduates that she had learned from her post-graduation experiences.

• Fear can e really crippling, but sometimes it can be used to advantage. “Don’t allow it to be restricting.”

• Just be kind, you never know someone’s situation.

• Sometimes your gut will tell you what to do; listen to it. “Sometimes we get so wrapped up in doing the right thing that we fail to listen.”

• Leave a legacy! “If you are not living a life that’s leaving a legacy along the way, then what are you here for?”

Summing up her advice, Smith said: “Regardless of what you choose to do, leave an impact with people.

“Get involved in a nonprofit, or organization you’re passionate about. It can be something little — just help others. Don’t be so caught up in reaching your goals that you forget to slow down and pay attention to the people around you.

“You never know who you’re going to end up with,” she said.

Honors and high honors students were recognized at a Scholarship Luncheon Thursday in the media center of Pea Ridge High School. The luncheon was sponsored by Arvest Bank.

TIMES photographs by Annette Beard Kelsey Parmenter Smith, chief executive officer of NWA Brand, was the guest speaker to the honors and high honors graduates at the Scholarship Luncheon Thursday.