"When you want to breathe as much as you want to succeed you will be successful."

Eric Thomas

At the age of 16, defiant and hardheaded, Eric decided to leave home and drop out of school, choosing to live on the streets of Detroit. By divine intervention at age 17, Eric met a pastor who saw him a young man with tremendous unrealized potential. As a result, their mentoring relationship was born which led Eric to complete his GED and to prepare for college. Determined not to be another statistic, Eric enrolled at Oakwood University where he began reading every thing he could get his hands on. Understanding the struggle of the streets, he realized what his purpose in life was to become, so he reached back to his fellow drug dealers and helped many of them get their GED's, go to college and incorporate the strategies and self-improvement exercises he learned in order to assist them in developing their own life plans. In so doing, he provided them with a much-needed positive option to the life of crime and illiteracy they then led.

He obtained his Masters degree in 2005 and is currently pursuing his PhD in Education Administration at Michigan State University and serves as Senior Pastor of A Place of Change Ministries, Lansing Michigan. He also serves as a consultant at Michigan State where he has developed The Advantage Program, an undergraduate retention program targeting academically high-risk students of color.

The MEAPA Way suggests that individuals, business, schools, communities and other organizations can learn a variety of lessons from this story by watching this 6 minute video and answering the following questions:

• How do his stories demonstrate self-discipline?
• What specific athletes and performers does he mention and why do you think he does that?
• How do his stories help students understand how successful people achieve their success?
• What other PATH traits and habits does he mention in his speech?
• Do you agree or disagree with his approach?
• What is your reaction to his quote "When you want to breathe as much as you want to succeed you will be successful?"