Emma Caroline Brown
Editor
This year’s Welty Gala speaker, Chef Jeff Henderson, knows the power of transformation that could not have happened without turning bad circumstances into good lessons and chances for opportunity.
In his youth, Henderson was a convicted felon who served nearly a decade in prison. During his time in federal prison, Henderson found a passion for cooking that grew into a way to grow, change and become a new person.
Overcoming a challenge such as the one Henderson faced seems like a nearly impossible task. However, through learning grit the hard way and making determination a priority, Henderson completely changed his life into something seen only in movies.
It can be easy to feel like there is no way out of a bad time or situation, especially if this bad time seems never-ending. However, the hardest times in our lives usually leave us changed and renewed when we reach the end.
Understanding this hard truth that adversity teaches lessons is not easily learned, and we may not understand the purpose, meaning or lesson of the challenges we are facing right now. Even for Henderson, the process of making meaning out of hardship was not immediate, but he found ways to make the process easier.
Find people to confide in, find a passion project and push your determination into becoming an achievement. By accomplishing these three tasks, the weight of going through the tough times will begin to ease off as you now have a support and guidance system, as well as a growing belief in yourself.
When asked how his journey has changed the way he approaches challenges, Henderson says he uses setbacks as a way to better his journey forward through whatever challenge he currently faces.
“I look at setbacks as a blueprint,” Henderson said. “It [setbacks] helps you really analyze what went wrong, and you learn from that.”
We often see setbacks or challenges as the beginnings of defeat, but instead of giving in to defeat, we can use these tough moments to better ourselves for the future and its challenges.
Our setbacks may be extremely different from Henderson’s, but his life, transformation and accomplishments are important to remember whenever we are in a rough patch, whether in life, school, work or other areas. If he could turn his situation into a new, fruitful livelihood, we could turn the bad times into future good times and come out even stronger on the other side.