Having been born with a severe facial deformity, my parents were told by doctors that I would never make it out of the hospital, and even if I did, I would be deaf, blind and mentally challenged. Despite this, after a short period of care, I was able to go home and spend the first three years of my life like every other child (other than the trips to and from NYC for medical stuff every two weeks...but everybody does that...right?)
One day, a doctor informed my mother that I was blind. Refusing to believe this, she insisted that simply wasn't the case, only to be told by the doctor that “You see what you want to see.” Taking a penny out of her purse, she threw it onto the floor, saying: “Corey Pick it up.” I got off her lap, bent down and handed the doctor the penny. The look of shock on his face remains with me to this day. Since then, I have known that I could do anything I put my mind to and that nobody (doctors included) could tell me otherwise.
I believe that the power of words can be debilitating. For that reason, I also believe that nobody should be able to limit what you do with their words. This is a philosophy I strive to teach others.
Through my experiences and knowledge, I seek to inspire others to go above and beyond what they think is possible in order to make their dreams come true, achieve goals they never thought obtainable, and most importantly, to be the best person they can be (both to themselves and to others). I am living proof that these things are within the reach of everyone.
I was fortunate that I wasn't bullied much as a child, thanks to the robust support system I had in place. I did, however, see a lot of bullying of others. To my regret, I didn't say anything at the time, but it nevertheless hurt to witness it first-hand. To view the sadness in other children as they were called names and picked on, to see the cruelty that other children felt they needed to inflict on one another...I simply didn't understand it. As such, one of my many missions, when I visit schools and other venues, my mission is to try and help those who have or continue to experience bullying, or are feeling pressure or just need a pep talk while at the same to show\support to those who do the bullying to show them how unnecessary it is.
I firmly believe that in today's society, unity will bring us much closer together and deliver us to a far better place.
One of the very things that kept me going in school was the support of my school and community. Quite frankly, I don't know where I'd be without them. Now I’m in a position to do so, I want others to feel that same loyalty and love from those around them. To support them in this endeavor, I deliver a range of specific presentations that can be seen on my webpage as well as rates. I am also happy to discuss other topics based on the needs of the school/venue.
