A motivational speaker will talk to Palo Alto High School students during second period today in the Peery Center for what administrators hope will boost the resilience of the student body in the upcoming year.

The speaker, Timothy Alexander, a “character coach” at the University of Alabama in Birmingham, said he hopes to help students persevere in the face of obstacles.

“I’m coming to speak today just to remind you that it’s not what you go through, it’s about what you grow through,” Alexander told Verde on Thursday morning after speaking with the Viking football team.

“I’m coming to speak today just to remind you that it’s not what you go through, it’s about what you grow through.”

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— Timothy Alexander, character coach

Alexander had been an aspiring athlete looking forward to a career in the NFL when he was injured in a car crash in 2006. Alexander said that his experiences in Alabama give him a unique perspective and message.

“I went from being a star athlete to rolling into school the next day, just because of a car accident,” Alexander said. “I started looking at life as all that I can’t do instead of what I can continue to do differently … once I shifted my thoughts, how I think, how I talk and how I carry myself changed.”

Alexander will also speak at Pepperdine University on Friday and the Los Angeles Clippers training facility on Saturday.

“We all face issues, even in the midst of starting a new school year,” Alexander said. “But if we set the tone right now, it can be special.”