The founder and president of an international organization recently spoke to students at Beaufort County Ed Tech Center about their futures and stressed the Golden Rule as a philosophy to live by.

On May 13, Dr. Clyde Rivers, founder and president of ICN (I Change Nations) spoke to students at the school and gave some encouraging words of advice. Rivers told students, “Don’t be afraid to be an original; I wasn’t afraid to share my dream,” “obstacles are meant to be overcome,” and “people pay for value,” to name a few phrases he used. ICN is a global network of people working to build cultures of honor and dignity around the world and in the communities in which they live.

Students also heard words from both Rivers and ICN member Everett Hershey, a Pantego native and owner of Precision Pallets of Pantego, about the Golden Rule, a philosophy the two live by and attribute much of their success to. Rivers and Hershey teach this philosophy as a guiding principle for life, they said.

“We’re on a mission to teach people the Golden Rule as a guiding principle for life,” Rivers said. “That one principle will change everything. If everyone could learn how to treat others the way they want to be treated, just imagine what the world would be like.”

“We really want to get across the message of ‘you change the world, and you change it by changing yourself,’ and the Golden Rule is what the world needs,” Hershey said. “Laws can’t reform the heart, and so we really want to come in and help these people, and we’re bringing ICN and the ambassador here to really kind of start a movement, which is the Golden Rule and reaching people such as these students and helping them learn to live by it and seeing the value of treating others the way they want to be treated.”

Rivers also challenged students to follow their dreams and put in the hard work to accomplish their goals. He also encouraged students to listen and appreciate their teachers and adult role models and cited an example of how his teachers impacted and influenced him to become better in school and as a person. Rivers related to the students through sharing his story of how he was in special education and was hyperactive, energetic, read backwards and stuttered as a student in school. He shared that every time he was asked to read aloud in class, he would become embarrassed and would act out, as a result.

Rivers also stressed to students how each and every person alive has value.

“Every kid has value in life, and I think, at times, it’s overlooked by different issues they face,” Rivers said. “If we can come and tell these kids that each and every one of them have value, and if you go on the right side of the fence, value will get you paid. That’s our message when we travel the world — every individual has value.”

Rivers, a native of Victorville, Cali. is also a pastor, he said. He was appointed an ambassador-at-large of Burundi, Africa by its president after preaching there and serves as the Interfaith Peace-Building Initiative Representative to the United Nations in New York and the African Union.

On May 12, Rivers and Hershey visited members of the community in the county and presented the Golden Rule International Award. Among the award winners were Beaufort County Sheriff Ernie Coleman, Washington Police and Fire Services Director Stacey Drakeford and Brotherly Love, a local nonprofit that focuses on helping at-risk individuals find work and lead productive lives, according to Hershey.

“(Coleman, Drakeford) are good guys, and they are doing a good, difficult job,” Rivers said. “We come to honor communities and say, ‘There are good people among you.’ God made people good, man, and a lot of times, no one hears that message.”