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For the 2nd time in less than 96 hours, I have checked into a hotel in Wisconsin. I hadn’t been here in 11 years so it seems strange to be back so soon.

I had an amazing week last week so it’s exciting to be getting right back into speeches so quickly. I had 6 speeches over 3 days and felt like they all went great. Acoustics and stage problems that were bascially out of my control, it was fantastic to be back on stage and working with students. The response I had afterwards through E-Mail, AIM and MySpace was also great.

It was a very weird feeling last week…because I felt completely exhausted and drained after all of the travelling, speeches and workshops but the success really helped push me and keep me going. As well, the whole experience felt quite normal. It felt like I’ve done it all my life…catch a plane, do a speech, sleep and start it all over again. With 30 speeches over the next two months in 11 States and Ontario, that is DEFINITELY a very good way to feel.

My next speech is in a couple hours…time to check the E-Mail, get dressed and make myself pretty. It’s showtime!

I just wrapped up a speech with a FANTASTIC audience at Luxemburg-Casco Middle in Casco, Wisconsin. I was VERY impressed with the audiences behaviour. Sorry to say it Los Fresnos, but this school topped you.

Perfectly behaved…didn’t have to stop once and ask for quiet. They were responsive, they were receptive, and they gave me the ego boost I love and asked for my autograph after the show. What can I say? I still get a kick out of giving my autograph.

I’ve got about an hour to take care of some work before running some student council workshops and then driving to Milwaukee and heading back to Buffalo. With a couple more speeches tomorrow, this week is almost done. It’s gone by fast and despite how tiiiiiiired I am from the 4-5 hours of sleep I’ve gotten each night and the early morning wakeups every morning, I feel recharged, reenergized and reinvigorated for the fantastic year to come.

We’ve only just begun…

What a title eh?

Today I performed my first speeches in Texas in my career. They were in towns about 20 minutes to 1 hour North of the Mexican border. With this being my first trip to Texas and my first time speaking for a school with a demographic base that was 90-95% Hispanic, I was confident I could perform just as well as in any other setting.

Until about 2 weeks ago when I received an E-Mail from a Principal in a New York City school questioning why I thought I could impact her students that were mostly of Dominican and Puerto Rican descent. After that E-Mail, I began to question myself (GASP). I thought, “did she know something I didn’t know?”, “are they going to be a tough audience”, “are they not going to listen to me because I’m white? VERY white?”.

Those questions circled in my head for the past couple weeks and I wondered if I had bit off more than I could chew. 15 minutes into my first speech at Los Fresnos High School, I was breathing a sigh of relief. I had them right where I wanted them…laughing when they were supposed to laugh and listening when they were supposed to listen. They were as responsive and receptive as any audience I can remember dating back several months.

As I continued my speech, I kept thinking what a goof I was to actually think that one demographic of students would be different than another. I’ve spoken in China and spoke for an Aboriginal community 75 miles from the Arctic Circle, but for some reason that one E-Mail got in my head that there might actually be a problem.

When all was said and done, I had 3 fantastic audiences and 3 great speeches. It felt amazing to have my faith restored that it didn’t matter where in the country I was, didn’t matter the age of the group and certainly not the cultural background of a group…I have an ability to reach students of all ages and all backgrounds. I love my job and today, the proof was in the pudding that I am in the right place at the right time.

Tomorrow I head to Wisconsin bright and early…can’t wait for a new adventure on a new day!

My trip to Texas began today by waking up at 5 am and heading to Buffalo. The border was no problem (for once)…I had allotted 2 hours of time for them to search my stuff, recognize I’m telling the truth about who I am and let me on my merry way. 45 seconds into the conversation, I was over the border and on my way to some intense humidity.

The flight plan was Buffalo to Cleveland; Cleveland to Houston and Houston to Harlingen, Texas. Then drive an hour and enjoy some time on the beautiful resort island of South Padre Island. Unfortunately my flight that would have gotten me into Harlingen at 4 pm was cancelled and I didn’t make it to my hotel until just now. Missed the sunset, missed the beach and missed the view. But oh well.

Roll with the punches as some people say. (I don’t usually say it). I haven’t eaten in 8 hours since I slept through the meal on the plane. Time to enjoy some local cooking at Blackbeards…the burgers are given rave reviews.

Up early again tomorrow…let the Speaking Tour begin!

I know it’s been a while since we’ve spoken. Believe me when I say I haven’t forgotten about you. In fact, I’ve thought about you every day since we last spoke. I just had to pick my priorities and not that you’re not important to me, but I had to focus on booking speeches for the fall.

Let me tell you, it has been one busy summer! With almost 30 speeches booked already for September and October alone, I am going to be travelling a lot and I promise you and I will keep in better touch. You know how lonely I get on the road, so I promise to write to you every single day and keep you updated on all of my adventures.

They begin next week with speeches in Texas, Wisconsin and New York.

I missed you too. See you soon.