Chris Singleton interviews

Abbey Trinidad

On September 11th, Chris Singleton spoke at Cape Henry Collegiate. When asked what stood out about Chris Singleton’s message the most, Abbey Trinidad stated that it was “the aspect of forgiveness”. She explained that our school could learn to forgive and be more considerate from Chris’s visit to our school. Abbey described Chris as resilient, strong, and full of faith. She stated that a connection between her life and Chris’s would be that she needs to be more forgiving and learn to let go of grudges. Abbey said that Cape Henry brings in speakers to give the community a greater perspective and that we need more speakers with a message of consideration in the future.

Rachael Sifen:

What stood out most to Rachael from Chris Singleton’s message was that he did not want revenge on the guy who killed his mom because love is stronger than hate. She explained that from Chris’s visit and presentation, we can learn to not take our family members for granted and check on the people we love often. Rachael stated that words to describe Chris would be resilient because he has not let the brutal death of his mother bring him down, and strong because his mom was murdered in a hate crime and he still loves people so much. A connection that Rachael made between her life and Chris’s was when he felt lost and wasn’t sure where to go from there because at some point, everyone can feel like that. Rachael states that Cape Henry brings in speakers to highlight different perspectives and stories and show the students there are problems to experience in this world beyond their own. Rachael explained that in the future Cape Henry should get speakers who touch on mental health because it is a prominent issue in today’s world. 

Ava Mager:

Ava thought that what stood out the most was that we have to accept that many things are out of our control, and instead we can only control how we react to those hard times. She stated that our school can learn the lesson of forgiveness and mindfulness. Words she used to describe Chris were strong, motivated, thoughtful, inspiring, driven, and caring. While Ava stated she does not have any clear connections to Chris’s life, she knows of many people in our community who have suffered loss like Chris and she thinks his message was one that helped them heal. Ava explained that Cape Henry brings in distinguished speakers because they have unique experiences that give us perspective in our own lives. Ava ended her interview by saying that in the future we should have more speakers like Chris.