Netflix series star talks impacting lives at chamber luncheon

Brittany Wagner, star of the Netflix documentary series Last Chance U, talked about making a lasting impact on lives Friday’s monthly community luncheon, hosted by the Cullman Area Chamber of Commerce, and in the process, left an impression on many in attendance.

Wagner’s work as an academic advisor — as well as a surrogate mother to athletically gifted student-athletes who struggle academically — was documented over the show’s first two seasons. Now she’s embarked on a new role as the founder of 10 Thousand Pencils, helping students across the country succeed in and out of the classroom. 

“I believe everyone has a right to an education and a second chance,” the Clinton, Mississippi native and recent Birmingham transplant told the audience gathered at All-Steak Restaurant. “I always wanted to make a positive impact on lives. I don’t think I chose this career. I think it chose me.”

She recounted growing up in Clinton, Mississippi and trying to help a classmate who continually acted out and stayed in trouble. That student, Henry Whitehead, went on to be the starting quarterback at her high school, winning a state championship and going on to be a quarterback at Louisiana Tech. The experience left an indelible mark on her that she carried into adulthood.

“I deal with 18-year-old kids that are so overwhelmed because they feel like they have to have their entire life planned out,” she said. 

She went on a “dream job” an academic advisor for the Southeastern Conference, but then there was a call to come to Scooba, Mississippi to East Mississippi Community College. She decided to make the hard decision to leave the glitz behind and head to the country’s second poorest county to help struggling student-athletes, and hopefully, make that positive impact she always wanted to.

“I learned the value of education, the value of effort and the value of myself,” she said of her time at EMCC. 

Now as a nationally respected athletic academic counselor and life coach, she uses the symbolism of her now famous line, “Do you have a pencil?” to motivate individuals everywhere to put forth actual effort in becoming the best they can be. She described how many players she’s encountered come from home lives that are beyond imaginable, so bad that failure isn’t an option because they have nothing left to lose. 

Over the years, she’s heard stories of neglect and poverty that would chill even the coldest heart. But she’s also witnessed how young men with all odds against them manage to reach their dreams of playing professional football and making millions of dollars.

“These kids don’t look at it as a poor place, they look at it as an opportunity to get out of their situation,” she said of East Mississippi. “I had one student tell me he knew he was going to be the best player in college football, and I asked him, ‘What makes you think that?’ And he said, ‘I was an All-American in high school and only got one meal a day. Just think what I can do with three?'”