A man asked a kid about his dream goals and the two things the kid wanted most in life were to become a famous actor and a lot of followers on social media. The man said, “Tell me how your life would change if you had all those 10,000 followers.” The kid said, “if I had those followers, kids at my school would stop bullying me and calling me names.”
The heartfelt words shook the man, who others know as Sam Demma, an Canadian author and speaker who continued to voice for kids in school who feel they don’t have one of their own. Demma visited Nixa High School on Feb. 20 in order to encourage students to stand up for others using his best selling book, “Empty Your Backpack.” Although the title may not seem much, the meaning behind it is what sparked Demma to create the novel that many kids now know.
“People’s words don’t define your route,” said Demma. “What I wished to help him realize was to empty his bag.”
The term “emptying your bag” metaphorically meant letting go of things over time instead of letting other people’s words inflict burdens. Demma said that having less respect for ourselves than we do for other people around us becomes life changing once you reverse the negativity from our “invisible backpack.”
“What I want to leave here for everyone today is, one, identify what to let go. Everyone has an invisible backpack, so you don’t know what they could be carrying.”
Demma correlates his past life into the theme of individuality. His message was meaningful to Harper Hopkins, a freshman.
“It was really helpful to hear things from other people’s point of view,” Hopkins said.
Demma reached out emotionally to the students in an effort to help their mental image.
“I feel like the speaker gave inspiration for others with the same problems as in his book, ‘Empty Your Backpack,’” Hopkins said.
Demma said he hoped to leave a mark on Nixa High School and reminded all students everyone has an invisible backpack others can never know what someone might hold.
