By Isabella Giallanza, Photo Editor and Faith Montagnino, Staff Writer

“Choose courage” is the life philosophy of Lisa Luckett, an author, speaker, mother, entrepreneur, 9/11 widow, and breast cancer survivor. As a woman who has made her mark in the world and touched the lives of others, Luckett spoke to the community on Oct. 24 about her acceptance of her life experiences and the optimism she maintains throughout the most challenging aspects of her life.

As the kickoff to the 2019-2020 school year’s Women in Leadership speaker series, Luckett shared the important life lessons she has learned and showed how she uses the school’s core values of leadership, respect, perseverance and faith in her daily life. 

“I realized that it was okay to let myself go and accept help from others,” Luckett said. “I realized the importance of my friends and family in some of the hardest moments of my life.” Luckett emphasized the importance of kindness and acceptance, and she encouraged students to understand that falling and letting others help them up is not shameful and should be more accepted in today’s society. 

Luckett stressed that the kindness she received from others through her greatest challenges was a vital part of her strength and ability to pull through those dark moments, which facilitated her creation of Pocket Hearts. 

The Pocket Hearts are colorful small clay hearts, hand-crafted by Luckett, that originated as a remembrance of an act of kindness from her late husband’s friend. Luckett explained the significance of the Pocket Heart and told her audience that there is always love and hope within reach. Luckett distributed these hearts to the student body and urged everyone to remember their Pocket Heart when they need to be reminded of how loved they are. 

“I think she had a really powerful message and communicated it really well,” junior Kailey Totland said. “I hope she comes back in a couple of years for other girls to hear her story.”