Noted author, inspirational speaker to visit BCCC | Eastern North Carolina Now

News Release:

    As a child growing up in the South, Columbus Copeland dreamed of playing college basketball and earning a college degree.

    But despite his receiving numerous honors and awards for his athletic ability, Copeland wasn't recruited by college coaches because of his poor grades and low SAT scores.

    Copeland did not let this stop him, however. On his own, he began writing and calling college coaches to give him a chance.

    Ultimately, that determination was rewarded and Copeland went on to play basketball and earn a bachelor's degree from Evangel College in Springfield, Mo.

    Copeland will bring his message of achieving success against the odds to Beaufort County Community College at 6:30 p.m., Monday, Feb. 18, in the auditorium of Building 8 on the BCCC campus. The event is offered free of charge to the public.

    Copeland's presentation, "Keeping the Dream Alive," is in recognition of Black History Month. "As I travel though the country, it saddens me to see so many people who stopped dreaming and are living below their potential, especially our youth," Copeland said. "My goals is to create and build something that will have a positive influence on people's lives."

    The event is sponsored by Men of Success, a male mentoring club at BCCC with the goal of promoting achievement among the college's minority male students.

    The program will inspire attendees to work hard to achieve their goals in life, according to Daniel Wilson, director of Admissions and Recruitment at BCCC and advisor to the club.

    Copeland graduated from college in 1984 and began work with the South Carolina Employment Security Commission. There, he worked with the Job Training Partnership Act. In that post, he helped hundreds of people enroll in college, receive job training and obtain employment.

    Copeland moved to Charlotte in 1988 to accept another position but, six months later, lost his job and found himself in a similar situation to the one he had spent four years helping others avoid.

    After receiving rejection after rejection, Copeland decided to create his own job - staring an employment recruiting and placement consulting firm. Many of the same companies that rejected him for employment became his clients.

    In 1995, Copeland entered the field of inspirational speaking and personal development training and, in 2011, he started a foundation in his home town in honor of his high school basketball coach.

    Copeland is also author of the book "The Art of Overcoming: Workplace and Life Strategies."

    For more information about the program, interested persons can contact Wilson at (252) 940-6233

   Beaufort County Community College is a public comprehensive community college committed to providing accessible and affordable quality education, effective teaching, relevant training, and lifelong learning opportunities for the people served by the College.