Relating stories from his own life experiences, teen motivational speaker Jeff Yalden came to Mathews High School last Thursday morning to help students avoid some of the pitfalls along the way.

That evening, he addressed parents, providing them with some of the same advice he gave the middle and high school students, as well as pointers on how to reach their children. Both talks were filled with humor, as well as more serious discussion on teen suicide, drug use and other issues like sending inappropriate pictures and vaping.

Sandwiched between the pair of two-hour-long talks in the school’s Harry M. Ward Auditorium, Yalden met with individual students, helping them work through their problems with the assistance of the school’s administrators.

“Who’s the hardest person to get to know?” he asked the crowd on Thursday morning. “Probably most everyone in this room said yourself,” Yalden said. That will always be your answer until you make a c...