On Monday, February 11th, faculty, middle and upper school students had the opportunity to hear Cape Henry’s first distinguished speaker of 2019, Kenyon Salo. Mr. Salo focused his presentation around the concept of chasing your dreams and not letting any factors, whether it be money, family, or a job, stand in the way of you achieving your dreams or goals you are striving for.

Prior to the assembly, students like Eva Dickie ‘19 and Izzy Schleifer ‘21 expressed excitement for going to the assembly, while others like Caleb Choe ‘19 didn’t know what to expect. Each of the students had never heard of Kenyon Salo; therefore, they each went into the assembly open-minded. Once the assembly ended, thoughts and opinions were flying around campus in regards to Mr. Salo. When asked what she thought about the assembly, Eva explained that she thought his presentation was “cheesy and corny; however, time passed quickly considering it was 70 minutes.” When asked the same question, Caleb said, “I didn’t think it was that great because I felt like he was all over the place with what he was trying to tell us. It wasn’t as organized.” Izzy expressed that she liked how he was “very interactive with the audience. He kept everyone engaged which was good.”

The activities that Mr. Salo brought into his presentation were enjoyed by many of the students because “we got to know more about the people we were sitting next to,” said Izzy. Eva and Caleb both agreed that they liked the activities, except the one where students lined up side by side and jumped to the left then to the right.

Although his goal was to deliver “high caliber, powerful, and heart-touching content to each person in the room,” many students left the assembly not knowing what to take away from his presentation. Eva expressed that she “didn’t learn anything new, but I felt like he presented the things I already knew in a new way, with a more positive approach.” However, when asked if she would pass Mr. Salo’s message on to her friends or family she said, “No but, if I could remember the message, maybe.” Izzy said she learned “that you can achieve your goals, even with boundaries in the way,” but like Eva, she would not pass Mr. Salo’s message on “Because I didn’t know what his message was when I left.” The idea that Caleb took away from the presentation is to “Pursue your dreams even if things are standing in the way.” Unlike Eva and Izzy, Caleb expressed that he will probably pass Mr. Salo’s message on to friends and family because “you should always have something you really want to try to achieve in mind and go after it.”