September 9, 2009 - College Summit Peer Leader Introduces President

On September 8,  President Barack Obama delivered an inspirational back to school speech to the nation’s students at College Summit partner school Wakefield High School in Arlington, VA.  He was skillfully introduced by Wakefield Peer Leader Timothy Spicer who recently completed a College Summit workshop at the University of Richmond.  Thanks in part to the college list he generated at the workshop, in chatting with the President before his remarks, Tim was able to provide a solid answer to President Obama’s question, “So, are you thinking about college?”  Tim rattled off names from his college list, including Morehouse, North Carolina  AT&T, James Madison University, Hampton and Temple.

As Secretary Arne Duncan pointed out in his introduction of Tim, he’s a student who has clearly sought out and taken full advantage of an array of educational and extracurricular opportunities, including football, swimming, student government and community service.  One of the things that impressed Tim most about Obama’s speech was the genuine sense of empathy the President expressed in relating to students, their obstacles and their perception that it’s sometimes difficult to understand how high school (and homework)is relevant to one’s future.

In reflecting on the President’s call to action for students to set personal goals, Timothy quickly refers back to his College Summit workshop.  “My current personal goals came straight out of the workshop.  I want to get my college applications done by November, and I want to challenge myself to do better on the SAT next month.” 

Clearly a natural leader, what resonated for Tim about his workshop experience was the powerful sense of community that was quickly established between students, volunteers and staff.   Thinking back to his second rap session at the workshop, Tim recounts, “We were asked to share an obstacle that we’d encountered.  Everyone was really in touch, really honest and really trustworthy.”   As a Peer Leader, Tim is looking forward to building this same sense of community at Wakefield.

See Tim interviewed on Fox News with links to his introductory remarks and transcript.