On Monday October 21, the students of Colonia High School congregated in the school gymnasium to listen to guest motivational speaker, Jeff Yalden, articulate his inspiring message to young teens.

Yalden, who creates an individualized message to each audience he speaks to, stressed the importance for self-actualization in a speech which invoked the speaker’s past experiences while emphasizing the finality and fragility of life.

The speaker, who had been diagnosed with both post-traumatic stress disorder and bipolar disorder, recalled graduating at the bottom of his high school class and his subsequent service in Desert Storm.

“I liked that fact that he was straightforward with us and didn’t try to glamorize his life,” commented Junior Nick Louro.

Yalden, a motivational speaker specializing in teen development, has been practicing for 13 years and has spread his message to over 4,000 audiences around the world.

Yalden hosts several types of media outlets as well, including an online blog and radio show that airs Mondays and Fridays.

“I was very skeptical at first, but I ended up appreciating his message,” reported Colonia High School senior Tyler Goldberg.

The motivational speaker emphasized the effects of his personal struggle while stressing the message “take time to think.” Yalden hoped to encourage students to give less thought towards the opinions of others and rather to focus on more inward thinking.

“Yalden’s message was thought-provoking. It really gave me some perspective,” Goldberg continued.

Yalden’s performance was not without its fair share of critics, however.

“I almost feel as if he just rephrased things I already knew,” claimed Colonia High School senior Jared Lal.

Towards the conclusion of his speech, Yalden announced the sale of various types of memorabilia, ranging from his personal line of shirts, wristbands, and posters, all of which would be on sale in the school lobby following the assembly. Wristbands sold for a dollar a piece or three for five dollars, the posters went for five dollars, and the shirts for twenty.

“Him (Yalden) trying to sell us things really ruined the atmosphere for me. It made it almost feel like he was just in it for the money,” Lal commented.

Yalden has been featured on MTV’s longest-running reality show, MADE, which has garnered over 70 million viewers over an eleven year span. The professional public speaker has been featured in all 50 states and has spoken to students from 48 countries.