Inspiration comes full circle for Belhaven student
Sep, 08-2009 3:35 pm
By JACKIE HANUSEY
Staff Writer
LINWOOD – Julie Lang has an infectious smile and personality; she brought both of them with her along with her sense of positive enthusiasm on a visit to her old school, Belhaven Middle School, on Wednesday, Sept. 2.
Lang, 16, a high school junior living in Davidson, N.C., attended grades five through seven at Belhaven.
A grade behind her triplet siblings Greg and Lindsey, Julie has had cerebral palsy since birth and used to walk with the assistance of a walker, but in no way did that dampen her spirits.
“Yes, I do have a bad day every once and a while, but I don’t broadcast that to the world,” she said. “I still have to get up and do what I need to do.”
Principal Frank Rudnesky, who stays in touch with the Langs, was looking for a motivational speaker for the first staff meeting on the first official day of school for teachers. Several big names were thrown into the mix, but bringing back Julie seemed like the best fit.
“Her mother just emailed me back, ‘When do you need her to be there?’” Rudnesky recounted.
Lang started school on Aug. 25 in North Carolina and took off just one day to bring her motivational message to Belhaven.
After pepping up his teachers, Rudnesky brought out Julie as part of this beginning of the year celebration kickoff.
“When you inspire someone, if you are lucky that comes full circle,” the principal said.
It came full circle for Lang as she spoke to the teachers that helped inspire her to become who she is today.
While she’s no longer part of the Renaissance school, Lang said the positive thinking and leadership she learned at Belhaven are constants in her life today.
After surgery during her seventh-grade year, and getting the news that the family would be moving, she said she feverishly wrote down her goals on a card.
“You can’t let your challenges defeat you; you defeat them instead.”
The Renaissance Pep Rally People’s Choice award winner begged her parents to let her complete her seventh-grade year and they obliged, leaving Linwood at 6 p.m. the evening of the last day of school.
From moving to a district with more than two dozen middle schools, to moving onto high school where she was able to advance out of special education math, she has confronted challenges head on.
“There was no Renaissance,” she said her eighth-grade year. “There was no one telling me I can be a leader, but I still continue to be a Renaissance leader.”
She said she was still able to leave the school with the spirit of Renaissance.
“There is always a place that is home,” Lang said, alluding to this year’s Renaissance theme, “There’s No Place Like Home.”
While her own North Carolina house and current school rank up there on her list, Belhaven, she said, is still a home to her.
Lang said she aspires to become a teacher, something that got cheers from the audience, many of whom taught her as a student.
Lang ended her candid speech outlining her life and goals by telling the teachers she had been told once that she was too positive and too peppy.
“I will not fix that about myself,” she said. “If someone is going to insult me, then that is the way I want to be insulted.”
With that, the staff gathered around for a soda and water toast to salute Julie and the new school year.
To comment on this story email Jackie.Hanusey@catamaranmedia.com.
