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Singer and motivational speaker Alex Boyé visited NS for a community mental health night on Oct. 9.
NS hosted this mental health night through Project AWARE, a mental health grant. Each adult in attendance received a $30 Terrel’s Market gift card with 355 total cards being given away. Boyé’s message focused on how we see ourselves, “You are a 10” and the importance of mental health.
“What I’m learning, at least for myself, is that when I’m telling people that they are 10s I’m literally saying that you are so much more than you think you are,” Boyé said.
During the health night, community resources like counseling and domestic violence representatives and mental health screenings were available as well. Project AWARE coordinator Lindsay Beesley secured the speaker for the community mental health night.
“I found out more of his story,” Beesley said “I found out he was homeless and at one point living on the streets and that he had struggled with his own mental health.”
Beesley invited Boyé to speak because of these experiences.
“I just thought it would be just so incredible to have such a highly esteemed person, this star, come here and say, ‘I’ve struggled too and I get it. I get the darkness and I’ve been in the lowest of lows.’ It kinda just gives hope,” Beesley said.
Boyé started the night off by singing the title song from “The Greatest Showman.” He then discussed his journey through homelessness and how he has grown to love himself. Boyé shared his experience of learning to validate himself and how we can improve our self-image. He then finished the show by playing two of his songs and inviting any audience members to come dance on stage.
The message shared at the event inspired some to change their mindset.
“He called me up there and started talking to me,” junior Nathan Hooley said. “It was awesome, it was amazing. At the very end, he said try brushing your teeth with the other hand because it forces your brain to think in new ways and it changes the way you think. I tried to and I’m on a streak. I haven’t brushed my teeth with my right hand since that night. I’ve found there are so many things that I’ve improved on. It’s insane… [my] confidence, soloing, musical talent.”
Junior Lin Anderson was also involved in Boyé’s performance. She was handed a ten-dollar bill and was asked to tell him how much it was worth. He then crumpled it up, stomped on it and yelled at it. Anderson then was asked how much it was worth again.
“He just had me tell how much that ten-dollar bill was worth,” Anderson said, “then he said, ‘That ten-dollar bill is you,’ and I literally almost started crying. I’ve had a lot of struggles with self-esteem especially recently, self-image and having people just saying things to me. So it was really cool to have someone I respect greatly come and say that I am worth something.”
