Perry stresses importance of education and responsibility

Dr. Steve Perry hosted Students Participating in Transcendent Knowledge on Tuesday in the Opal Johnson Auditorium.
 Perry is an established author, columnist, commentator, CNN contributor, as well as the founder and principal of Capital Prep Magnet School in Hartford, Connecticut.
The school was established in a low income area and many believed the school was simply a failure waiting to happen.
However, with Perry as leader, the school has exceeded expectations. The school is the highest ranking schools in Hartford, where graduation rates are concerned, because it has a 100 percent rate.
Education is at the forefront of Perry's platform for social change. He impressed upon the students the importance of coming to school, making good impressions, and being knowledgeable upon graduation.
At the beginning of his speech, Perry compared two brothers. He went on to discuss how the two brothers took on two different paths. One brother got into some trouble as an adolescent, but was able to go on to a straight path by graduating from college and having a family.
The other one wasn't able to finish high school and got in trouble with the law. He has led a life full of crime and jail time.
Currently, he is facing serious prison time.
Perry went on to describe why young men, especially minorities often end up in trouble. Young men are conditioned not to show or express their feelings.
He compared young men to young women saying that young girls are very confident then lose their confidence. You don't know what to do with your feelings, but you find a way. You talk about it."
"One of the reasons people get involved with certain things, like sell drugs or any type of crime, is because they don't have self-esteem. When you believe that there is something more for you, you are willing to do certain things. You are willing to invest in yourself. You surround yourself only with people who are trying to be better. When you don't see yourself as better, you don't make better decisions," said Perry.
Perry also emphasized to student the importance of personal responsibility. He pushed students to build each other up and hold one another accountable.
"The people who are close to you are typically the hardest to motivate. The people who are supposed to love you are the closest to you. The people closest to you are the ones who can hurt you," said Perry.
"It was informative and it should help students get through college," said junior architecture major Zach Harkless.