What better way to kick off our first guest speaker of the year than by 𝙜𝙚𝙩𝙩𝙞𝙣𝙜 𝙧𝙚𝙖𝙙𝙮 𝙛𝙤𝙧 𝙨𝙤𝙢𝙚𝙩𝙝𝙞𝙣𝙜 𝙣𝙚𝙬?? 🎶

A huge thank you to Steve Cooper Division President First Mid, for spending the morning with Edwardsville CEO and challenging our students to think about 𝙩𝙝𝙚 𝙥𝙤𝙬𝙚𝙧 𝙤𝙛 𝙖 𝙜𝙧𝙚𝙖𝙩 𝙛𝙞𝙧𝙨𝙩 𝙞𝙢𝙥𝙧𝙚𝙨𝙨𝙞𝙤𝙣.

A few takeaways that stuck with us:

⭐ You are always on stage. How you carry yourself matters—even when you don’t realize someone is watching.

⭐ You are constantly building your brand. Every interaction, handshake, conversation, and choice tells people something about who you are.

⭐ First impressions matter. Be intentional about the one you leave behind.

𝙊𝙪𝙧 𝙨𝙩𝙪𝙙𝙚𝙣𝙩𝙨 𝙖𝙧𝙚 𝙨𝙩𝙚𝙥𝙥𝙞𝙣𝙜 𝙞𝙣𝙩𝙤 𝙖 𝙮𝙚𝙖𝙧 𝙛𝙞𝙡𝙡𝙚𝙙 𝙬𝙞𝙩𝙝 𝙣𝙚𝙬 𝙥𝙚𝙤𝙥𝙡𝙚, 𝙣𝙚𝙬 𝙚𝙭𝙥𝙚𝙧𝙞𝙚𝙣𝙘𝙚𝙨, 𝙣𝙚𝙬 𝙘𝙝𝙖𝙡𝙡𝙚𝙣𝙜𝙚𝙨, 𝙖𝙣𝙙 𝙣𝙚𝙬 𝙤𝙥𝙥𝙤𝙧𝙩𝙪𝙣𝙞𝙩𝙞𝙚𝙨. 𝘼𝙣𝙙 𝙩𝙤𝙙𝙖𝙮 𝙬𝙖𝙨 𝙖 𝙜𝙧𝙚𝙖𝙩 𝙧𝙚𝙢𝙞𝙣𝙙𝙚𝙧 𝙩𝙝𝙖𝙩 𝙝𝙤𝙬 𝙩𝙝𝙚𝙮 𝙨𝙝𝙤𝙬 𝙪𝙥 𝙛𝙤𝙧 𝙩𝙝𝙤𝙨𝙚 𝙤𝙥𝙥𝙤𝙧𝙩𝙪𝙣𝙞𝙩𝙞𝙚𝙨 𝙢𝙖𝙩𝙩𝙚𝙧𝙨. 𝙒𝙚’𝙧𝙚 𝙟𝙪𝙨𝙩 𝙜𝙚𝙩𝙩𝙞𝙣𝙜 𝙨𝙩𝙖𝙧𝙩𝙚𝙙—𝙖𝙣𝙙 𝙬𝙚’𝙧𝙚 𝙧𝙚𝙖𝙙𝙮 𝙛𝙤𝙧 𝙨𝙤𝙢𝙚𝙩𝙝𝙞𝙣𝙜 𝙣𝙚𝙬. 🚀

Thank you, Steve, Abel Anderson, and the entire First Mid team for helping us start the year strong!