Agile, athletic, and assertive, Hamish Brewer was like a superhero, bigger than life, someone you want on your side. University gown and collar flowing, arms waving, he moved swiftly across the width of the rows of graduates, headed down the long side, and startled everyone when he jumped upon a chair. His voice boomed across the gym at Forest Park High School.

“Do you know what you have accomplished?” Brewer asked. “You have graduated on time! Yes! You did it! I know what it is to fight and be relentless in pursuit of your dreams,” he said. “If you don’t go get it you won’t have it…It is not easy but it is not impossible. Dreams are nothing without plans and plans are nothing without dreams. You have to grind it out when no one’s looking, Champions are made in the night.”

You first notice Brewer’s accent (imagine British). Brewer was the guest speaker at the ceremony honoring graduates from PWCS high schools and adult external diploma and GED programs. Born in New Zealand, Brewer spoke of his challenging upbringing within tough circumstances, his difficult home life, getting in with the wrong crowd, failing at school, and new beginnings. He is the first in his family to graduate from university, and is now pursuing a doctoral degree at Virginia Tech.

Turning the focus on the audience, Brewer urged all the graduates to stand, find their families and friends in the audience, and give them a shout out for standing behind them and encouraging them.

“Be that great person you want to be,” he told the students. “Every day is an opportunity to be better than the day before, leave a legacy of greatness.”

Mr. Brewer ended the amazing evening on a high note with a breathtaking performance of a New Zealand traditional war dance – the Haka.