Ex-WWE star tells students about the power of choices
Springfield High School students were left feeling encouraged after a visit from inspirational speaker Marc Mero.
Mero, a former boxer and wrestling star turned motivational speaker, gave an empowering talk to a packed gym of Springfield High School students.
Mero’s current tour, Make it Stop, which is part of his bigger campaign Champion of Choices, focuses on telling students that they can take charge of their lives and stop things like bullying and drug abuse in their schools and communities if they make the right choices.
Make it Stop was brought to Springfield High School because of two seniors — Emma Hunt and Kirsten McCleary.
Patrick Smith, lead principal at Springfield High School, said the girls approached him with the idea of bringing Mero to the school to speak. The girls had recently formed an anti-bullying club and felt that Mero’s message was the perfect way for the club to gain interest.
“I told the girls that I loved the idea but I just wasn’t sure about the funding,” Smith said. “They managed to go out on their own into the community and find outside funding.”
Smith said he hopes students reflect on many aspects of Mero’s presentation, but most importantly, he wants students to realize the impact they have on the community.
“I hope they understand that the choices they make every day have a long term impact,” Smith said. “Specifically what (Mero) said about, ‘Show me your friends and I will show you your future.’ ”
Choices are the main topic of Mero’s roughly one-hour presentation. The presentation follows the choices in the path of Mero’s life, beginning with his childhood.
Growing up in single-family home in a poor section of New York, Mero always had dreams that seemed too big to achieve. Mero talks about how at the age of 10 he would dream about buying his mother a house, driving a black Cadillac and owning a speed boat.
Mero said he became an amateur boxer and professional wrestler through hard work. He wrestles for the World Wrestling Federation under his real name, and with World Championship Wrestling and Total Nonstop Action Wrestling as Johnny B. Badd.
However, once Mero had achieved all the fame and success he had dreamed of, he realized he was still left feeling all alone. In addition to battling depression, he developed an addiction to alcohol.
After the deaths of over 30 of his friends and family, including his sister, mother and brother, Mero felt called to do more and knew his story could help those struggling with the same problems.
“There are two types of people,” Mero said. “Someone who says something needs to be done, and those who say ‘I wanna go out and do something about it.’”
This helped Mero establish his over-arching campaign, Champion of Choices, which travels across the world preaching to middle and high school students about the importance of the decisions they make, Mero said.
“You can either build your dreams, or you can work for someone building theirs,” Mero said during his presentation. Mero has been on tour with Champion of Choices for the last 12 years.
“I get letters from students all the time talking about how I have helped them, sometimes even saved them. There is no better joy than helping someone,” he said.
But in all of the messages about choices and achievement, if there is one thing Mero hopes students at Springfield High take away from hearing him speak, it’s his message of empathy and compassion.
“You never know what someone is going through,” Mero said, “especially at this age.”