[Weekly Inspiration] Be a Mr. Jensen

Clint Pulver wasn’t always a motivational speaker, professional musician, and Business Q Magazine “Top 40 Under 40.” Before all of that success, Clint was just a ten-year-old boy, one with a serious problem: he didn’t know how to sit still.

“I didn’t struggle with English, Math, or Science. I struggled holding still. And I would try to listen, and focus, and process ideas, but I couldn’t help myself. And to be honest I would sit there and I would just start… tapping.”

Clint’s disruptions in his classes got worse and worse, upsetting teachers and students alike. Eventually, he was sent to the principal’s office, where he was told to try sitting on his hands whenever he felt the urge to tap his desk.

Clint sums it up pretty nicely: “And that worked for about five seconds.”

But one day, Clint’s teacher, Mr. Jensen, held Clint after class. He looked Clint right in the eye and said two important things. “I need you to know something: you’re not in trouble. But I do have just one question that I have to ask you. Have you ever thought about playing the drums?” And then he handed Clint what would be come his first set of drumsticks.

Pulver went on to not only become a drummer, but to thrive and be successful because he was a drummer. “From that moment on, I never put those sticks down. I’ve toured, recorded, and played drums all over the world. My whole college education was paid for with drumsticks in my hand. Just because of a single moment in time when somebody believed in me. And he saw something in me that I didn’t see in myself.”

Teachers have an unbelievable impact on the lives of their students every day. For Clint, all it took was one teacher, Mr. Jensen, to take an unconventional shot with him. Many of us have stories just like this, and it’s good to remember that the next moment might happen tomorrow, in your classroom. Check out the full video here.