Candice Glover speaks at Beaufort County Youth Conference
Once the shrieks of her fans subsided inside the Technical College of the Lowcountry's auditorium Saturday, Candice Glover told them she remembered being on the other side of the stage.
The "American Idol" winner and St. Helena Island native recalled Saturday's spent on the Beaufort campus for the annual Beaufort County Youth Conferences -- now in its 22nd year -- and wearing the event's free T-shirt to school on Mondays.
But Glover told the more than 300 middle and high school students in front of her that what she took most to heart were the encouraging words of the conferences' teachers, volunteers and peers.
She urged her audience to do the same.
"I'm so inspired by each and every one of you all," she said. "I know there's so much talent in Beaufort. ... And anybody that tells you you can't do something, prove them wrong."
Following the theme of the conference, "Stay on Track," Glover implored the students to avoid negative influences like drugs and alcohol.
She added that goals take time and work, something she didn't fully understand as a Beaufort High School student and winner of the "Beaufort Idol" contest in 2008.
"I didn't know following my dreams would mean following my dreams even after being cut twice from 'American Idol,' being cut on TV," she said. "But I knew if I kept at it, it would work out."
Glover did not sing on Saturday, though students were treated to some Lady Gaga earlier in the day. Dancing to her song, "Born this way," Beaufort High School drama students encouraged others to embrace their differences. The 20 students wore labels on their T-shirts -- some were "weird," "depressed," "annoying," another simply a "proud Mormon" -- for the act, part of their anti-bullying show, "If You See Something, Say Something."
"You'd be amazed the people that get picked on for being who they are," drama director LaRaine Fess said, adding that students start to internalize the name-calling. "The words literally beat you down."
Other workshops during the six-hour conference focused on the dangers of alcohol and drugs, peer pressure and teen pregnancy.
In one classroom, Dr. Ardra Tolbert of Beaufort spent a few minutes telling about 25 middle schoolers about the physical and mental consequences of a teen pregnancy before moving onto the financial toll.
That, she said, is what clicks with most young people.
She asked the students to calculate how much time they would need for sleep, school and a full-time job. There weren't enough hours in the day.
"What falls by the wayside?" Tolbert asked. "Unfortunately, it's the education."
That's exactly what the conference aims to prevent.
"The only limitations that are on your life are the limitations you set," Joe White, a St. Helena Island pastor, told the students Saturday morning. "Take the limits off your life."
"And be good. Not perfect, but good."
Follow reporter Rebecca Lurye on Twitter at twitter.com/IPBG_Rebecca.
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Beaufort High students take anti-bullying show on the road, March 22, 2013
This story was originally published September 27, 2014 at 7:27 PM with the headline "Candice Glover speaks at Beaufort County Youth Conference."