It has been 14 years since Orono graduate Tim Cashin tragically passed away. Cashin is remembered as a great student body president, athlete and student. Through his favorite motivational speaker, Mark Scharenbroich, Cashin has impacted the lives of many even though he is no longer here.

Scharenbroich came to Orono High School for the thirteenth year in a row because of the Cashin Foundation, in honor of Tim. To the seniors sitting in the audience, it was not a mystery as to why Scharenbroich was Cashin’s favorite.

Scharenbroich is not like any other motivational speaker; he connected with the seniors right away by making them laugh like crazy. It took about two minutes to realize that this man had a lot of important points to say.

Scharenbroich repeated that senior year is a time of defining who you are. He emphasized the three L’s: Leap, Live, and Love.

Leap: We must set goals and write them down, Scharenbroich said. Then we need to try these, but we might fail sometimes. We learn from those and grow as a person.

Live:  Surround yourself with people who make you a better person. Be with your friends as much as possible and rekindle old friendships that ended in middle school, he said.

Scharenbroich said there is only a limited amount of time left until everyone goes their separate ways, so appreciate them and your hometown.

Love: Spend time with the people you love most. “Happiness is a choice, we had it in first grade and we can have it again,” Scharenbroich said. High school is about making memories, not regrets. Do fun activities, talk with your parents more, and take walks with your dog.

Doing these things will create an amazing senior year experience, he said. “You move from clueless to having a clue,” Scharenbroich said. You can’t win if you think you’re less than others. “Stop counting crayons, just draw pictures,” Scharenbroich said.

He continued to explain that everyone needs to stop caring what another person has. This is just like complaining that the person next to you has more crayons in their pencil box. Some people may have a nicer car or a bigger house, and that is not what matters. Drawing pictures means creating memories. Use what you have, and make the best memories that won’t be forgotten.

Be happy for your friends. If they aced a test and you didn’t, congratulate them because it is not worth being mad about. Look into the mirror and think of all your great features. You are good enough and wasting time on thinking otherwise will get you nowhere.

Most importantly, “Define yourself by how you see, not by how you are seen,” Scharenbroich said.

There were so many takeaways in a short amount of time, and the seniors came to a great realization. Seven months from now, the class of 2016 will be standing in their caps and gowns, and they will look back and thank Scharenbroich for his life changing words. Visit Scharenbroich’s website at http://nicebike.com for more information on this motivational speaker.