Elliot Hatch
Game Reporter

“Everybody in this room is an artist,” Marshall Ramsey said to the crowd of Mississippi University for Women alumni and current students. “Every day we start with a blank canvas. Our attitudes and our efforts are our brush strokes, and by the end of that day we have created a new painting.”

Ramsey is a two-time Pulitzer Prize finalist who visited The W to enlighten students and guide instructors toward positive mentoring.

During his speech, Ramsey emphasized the importance of a good mentor in life. A good mentor can truly save someone’s life and guide him or her through trying times. Ramsey explained how important his own mentor is to him. He spoke of all the guidance and the times when he was struggling and offered encouraging words to the students in the room.

“There will be times when you don’t think you have it in you,” Ramsey said. “But I’m telling you right now, it’s going to kick in. You can do it.”

Ramsey made sure to spread a message of positivity. He concluded his speech about empowerment, his fight with cancer and his relationship with his father and his mentors with confidence and excitement for the students.

“You’re going to fall down,” Ramsey said. “But what kind of story are you going to tell when that happens?”