Alaya Spivey, a student a Trezevant High, stood at the front of the room and locked in on the voice of Dr. Brenda Caldwell. Spivey has aspirations of becoming a pediatrician and Caldwell has tools to help her and others achieve such dreams.

Caldwell – known as “Dr. B.” and the “Doctor of Hope” – is a psychologist, author, program developer, life coach and president/CEO of B. Caldwell Consulting. She spoke to Memphis City Schools students last week (July 23rd) during the Career Academy Connections’ 2010 Summer Internship Workshop at the Holiday Inn at the University of Memphis.

With an intensity that was magnetic and a sincerity that moved Spivey to tears, Caldwell worked through Spivey to demonstrate must-take steps toward achieving goals. She put a doctor’s lab coat on Spivey and placed a stethoscope around her neck, adding to the creative visualization experience.

Fifty MCS high school students from Craigmont, Hamilton, Kirby, Raleigh-Egypt, and Trezevant participated in the five-week Summer Internship Program that proceeded Caldwell’s presentation at the workshop. The students were mentored and worked in 21 businesses and organizations throughout the Memphis community. 

Caldwell’s message to them all was the same: “Drop the dream busters; but don’t drop the Dream…Greatness is in you.”

People will say you can’t accomplish your goals, said Caldwell. “They are the dream busters. They eat peanut butter and jealously sandwiches and drink haterade. President Obama did not listen to them.”

 Dream busters, said Caldwell, should be met with four words: “I don’t receive that.”

And to realize your dreams, she said, do these four things: See it – visualizing what you want to do; Speak it – tell somebody, talk about what you want to do; Write it down – put it on paper, write out your goals and aspirations; Do it – use your connections and resources to put your goals into action. Don’t give up your dreams for someone else.

Memphis City Schools Academic Director Joyce Mitchell said the MCS Career Academy Connection Summer Internship was a success story for the students and their business mentors.

“These partnerships with local businesses, the health science community, the public and private sector helped students to connect their learning with their post-secondary education and career plans.”

The district’s Smaller Learning Communities Grant funded the initiative.

Pat Carter, President of Olympic Staffing, Inc., said, “It is nothing better than a program like this to give students an opportunity to see what goes on in the real world. Students were able to see people who were underemployed, which inspired the students to say, ‘I am going to college to move forward.’

“The city as a whole needs to start early getting youngsters involved with programs like this to experience different jobs in the market, because often times students attend school/college only to find out the career chosen is not for them.”

Anfernee Brown, a senior at Hamilton High School, gained experience at the Tri-State Defender.

“I was a part of several events – the TSD Summer Health Fair, MMBC Expo and the Pre-K Express. I learned how to conduct business and communicate with the community about the newspaper and new subscribers of the paper.”

With an intensity that was magnetic and a sincerity that moved Alaya Spivey to tears, Dr. Brenda Caldwell – the “Doctor of Hope” – worked through Spivey to demonstrate steps one must take to achieve goals. (Photos by Shirley Jackson)