Inspirational teen-speaker Jeff Yalden spoke to all four classes during two assemblies run by the Students Against Destructive Decisions (S.A.D.D.) club on April 15.

“I love that when you’re real with students, it’s like that ‘aha,'” Yalden said. “I love seeing the kids shaking their heads like they’re hearing you. I love at the end when they come up and they’re like, ‘Dude, thanks for speaking, you made sense.’ When you’re where I am and you see them and you see the connection, you appreciate that moment.”

Yalden has been speaking at high schools and colleges for 23 years after teaching.

“I always wanted to be a teacher and when I got out of the Marine Corps and moved to New Hampshire, and I started working as a teacher, I was full time permanent sub,” Yalden said. “But I’m not a curriculum guy so from there I kind of got into it [speaking] and I’m still figuring my life out.”

“We liked how different he was than our previous speakers, and also appreciated how he addressed issues like anxiety and depression in his presentation,” S.A.D.D. president and junior Morgan Kreiss said. “Everyone could take something away from his talk, and appreciate how funny he is.”

Yalden has also written a popular motivational book, ‘Your Life Matters.”

“I went to Florida one weekend and I wrote the whole book,” Yalden said.

As well as writing and live motivational speaking, Yalden starred as an MTV ‘MADE’ Life Coach.

“MTV happened while I was doing it [speaking], and now I’m in a contract with Spike TV,” Yalden said. “So hopefully there’ll be a television show coming out in late spring- we’ll see!”

The two presentations not only deeply impacted students but caused laughter, proving to be a success for the S.A.D.D. club.

“I feel as though he left a lasting positive impression on the A.R.H.S. community, and would encourage future classes to have him speak again,” Kreiss said.

“The kids were awesome,” Yalden said. “It was a privilege to come here, so thank you!”