Adversity no excuse,
students learn
By Jesse Phelps

The seventh-graders of Matilija Junior High School were treated to a special presentation last Thursday when renowned motivational speaker W Mitchell visited campus.

Mitchell uses a letter without a period for a first name. His first book, called "It's Not What Happens to You, It's What You Do About It" has provided inspiration to many. It's an apt title and he's a man who speaks from experience. He's suffered what many would call tragedy but he's turned it into opportunity.

Mitchell worked as a brakeman on San Francisco's cable cars for years. Having a keen interest in vehicles, he bought a motorcycle, which he loved to ride. He described one day to the kids, a day he was riding to work. It was sunny and perfect, the kind of day you might enjoy so much you might never notice the truck hurtling at you out of control.

That truck hit him and Mitchell found himself on the pavement, engulfed in flames. One brave soul, a car salesman, ran into the street with a fire extinguisher, probably saving Mitchell's life in the process. But the damage was done. Mitchell, burned over 65 percent of his body, would never operate a cable car again.

His hands disfigured, his countenance scarred, he found himself in the hospital without any memory of the event.

One might think this would slow him down. Not Mitchell.

He could still fly. One day Mitchell decided to take some friends on a flight around the beautiful skies of Colorado. He says that he must have missed some ice on his wing during his pre-flight inspection because no sooner did he take off then the plane went into a free-fall. Fortune smiled upon him. His friends were mostly unhurt in the crash but Mitchell once again sustained the brunt of the impact. He was paralyzed from the waist down, never to walk again.

Was he defeated? Not Mitchell. Though confined to a wheelchair, he pushed on, finding light in the smile of a passerby. He described to kids the courage it must have taken for that person, a kid a lot like one he found in the audience, to make that connection. And that, he said, gave him the courage to smile back.

From there, it became clear to him: Smile and the world will smile back. As Mitchell said to the students, "There were a hundred things I couldn't do anymore. But there were 10,000 I could."
He ran for Mayor of Crested Butte, Colo. and won. He ran for U.S. Congress and lost. And still he kept going. He urges people to take responsibilty for change, telling the seventh graders at Matilija to "make friends with that person who isn't popular," to be brave and believe in themselves.

Today, Mitchell splits time between Hawaii, Santa Barbara and Australia. He's spoken to audiences the world over. Though he appeared for free at the school, usually Mitchell shares his story with audiences for more than $15,000 per session. He commands rooms filled with anyone from corporate tycoons to our lucky seventh graders. And the students noted their good fortune, sitting rapt through his storytelling, his respectful demeanor and the warmth of that smile.

© 2003 The Ojai Valley News

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