Jonathan Mooney was always the slow kid in class. Called 'stupid' and 'lazy' most of his life, he believed that because he was different, he was deficient. His inspiring redemption story will make you reignite the flames that burn within you and find your gift.
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00:00 You know I struggled in school. I was the kid who spent most of the day
00:05 Chilling out with the janitor in the hallway, right?
00:09 I was the kid in middle school who had such a hard time keeping his mouth shut
00:13 That I grew up on a first-name basis with surely the receptionist in the principal's office
00:19 And I was a kid in high school who had such a hard time learning to read that I spent most of my high school days
00:28 Hiding in the bathroom to escape reading out loud with tears streaming down my face
00:33 I was diagnosed with dyslexia or a language-based learning disability in fourth grade
00:38 I was diagnosed with ADD or attention deficit hyperactivity disorder in fifth grade
00:43 And I dropped out of school for a year in sixth grade
00:47 I was a kid who believed that because I was different I was deficient that I was the stupid crazy and
00:54 Lazy kid and you can imagine by the time I re-enrolled in high school. There were a lot of low expectations that surrounded me
01:01 I was told by my dad that I would probably be a high school dropout and I was told by a teacher
01:06 Unfortunately that I would most likely end up in jail or incarcerated
01:11 But you know what I beat those odds
01:14 transcended those low expectations I
01:19 Want to spend my time with you talking about what are the things?
01:23 Investments commitments that help young folks like me beat those low expectations and prove them wrong
01:30 You know in my life. It was really three things
01:32 I'm here today because of
01:34 Multiple teachers, but I want to tell you about one of them
01:37 Got him father young met father young at a tipping point in my life where I could have went left
01:41 But I went right you know first college before Brown
01:45 Marymount University went there on soccer scholarship thought I was a dumb jock couldn't be anything
01:51 But that and on the first day on campus the soccer coach made us go around
01:55 To the different departments and listen to the presentations
01:58 And I went around and I didn't listen to anything until I got to the English department and the chair of the department
02:03 Father young was up there talking about literature and learning like his head was on fire
02:08 And I was moved so I went up to him afterwards. I said father young you you moved me
02:13 I think I might want to be an English major here at LMU, but I don't know if I can do it
02:17 I don't read well. I don't write well. I don't spell well
02:19 The guy looked right at me and said I believe in you some of the most gifted thinkers in the world
02:26 Wbh John Irving they were thinkers like you you can do this
02:30 So I was changed that moment I walked across campus to the other side to the Dean of academic enrollment
02:38 I walked into that guy's office, and I said I'm gonna study me some English literature here at LMU, right?
02:43 It is game time. Let's do this. You know and that guy he pulled out my file right the individualized
02:51 education plan the IEP right NSA
02:55 KGB got nothing on the IEP, okay?
02:59 They've been doing deep Intel on me my whole life it ain't good news in that file
03:08 Is this Nick he flips through it he laughs and he says English literature
03:14 I won't approve that major you should consider something less
03:17 Intellectual so I was deflated like a balloon
03:20 Back to the kid in the hallway walk back across campus to father young and said not gonna be an English major
03:26 And he said why?
03:29 Said that guy thinks it's too hard because of my disabilities father young was real quiet
03:33 Then he looked at me, and he said in a way that only an old-school Jesuit can he said well son
03:39 I guess you're just gonna have to prove that bastard wrong
03:43 And and the next day I enrolled in four English literature classes
03:52 And that guy who told me I should consider something less intellectual
03:56 Let's just say that he has an autographed copy of both of my books on his desk right now, right?
04:01 I
04:03 Was a kid who believed that because I was different I was deficient that I was the stupid crazy and
04:12 Lazy kid, but I've come to believe to my core that these things that we have labeled to be
04:19 Deficiencies or disorders aren't that they are differences in the truest sense of the word and the thing that really
04:26 Disables individuals is the way that those differences are treated by others
04:31 a foundation of my journey of change was a deep
04:34 commitment to not just fixing kids problems
04:39 But finding and celebrating and scaling their strengths
04:43 And if you listen to any journey of change by somebody like me who grew up in the hallway
04:47 It's all about finding that thing that they are good at I want to spend my time
04:51 Celebrating the potential of those kids who learn and live differently
04:57 Every single human being has a strength talent or interest that you can find and you can build a life on
05:03 Find your strengths and compensate for your weaknesses
05:07 You