Nathan Harmon visited FHS on Wednesday, March 5th to talk to high school students about cyberbullying and his real-life experiences.
Throughout Nathan’s youth, he experienced his parent’s divorce, suicidal thoughts, self-harm, drug and alcohol addiction, bulimia, and imprisonment. Since being 15 years sober, Nathan has been able to share his experiences and influence others worldwide.
Nathan shares his somber past, filled with addiction and despair. His life wasn’t his; he had gone down the wrong path and was struggling. While out drinking one night, Nathan found himself in the driver’s seat of his friend’s car. That car would end up being wrecked, and his friend, Priscilla Owens, would lose her life. Following the forgiveness by Priscilla’s family, Nathan found God and got clean for the better, using his experiences to teach others. Nathan shares this story to influence the people of the world and show how your actions can affect others.
When talking about his battle from the ground up, Nathan uses a ladder to represent his growth. With each step, the ladder shakes and he gets closer and closer to falling over, which represents failure or setbacks. Nathan pulled two students up onto the stage and had them support the ladder. He used this as a comparison to needing people in your life to keep you on track and balanced, you can’t do it all alone. He then pulled two teachers onto the stage and also had them support the ladder. He compared this to needing mentors to lean on and to hold you accountable. His overall message with the ladder was that although you will go through hardship when trying to achieve your goals, you need others to help lead and support you.
Nathan talks about how he wants to be better but never takes steps to change. He advises the students not to be stuck as the people they don’t want to be.
“There really is a place for you to step into your story and to do hard things,” Nathan said.
Despite the common topics, mental health and hurting people, he also brings up procrastination, time management, response, and honesty.
“No one wakes up and says ‘Today I want to be uncomfortable,’” Nathan says, bringing up how we don’t change because change is uncomfortable.
He talked about how we should do what will be the best for us in the long run, even if it causes a period of discomfort. The result is always worth the risk and perseverance.