Program Experiences - In Your Words
Shannon came to present at my college campus as the keynote speaker for our week-long event for eating disorders awareness. Shannon’s presentation was phenomenal. She portrayed an abundance of relevant information in an appealing and relatable fashion. Her warmth and friendliness drew the audience in instantly. She artfully combined seriousness with humor to provide an entertaining, yet insightful and poignant presentation. -Jennifer Pearlstein, Truman State University
Shannon was very personable and was easy to relate to. She was extremely knowledgeable and covered her topic well. My adult sponsors felt like she did a great job in getting the message to our girls and our girls seemed to hang on her every word. -Jay Gage, Youth Pastor, First United Methodist Church-Midland
Shannon was fabulous! Articulate, appropriately humorous and real. Students’ hands were flying up in the air for questions repeatedly through her talk – a talk about eating disorders but not. She planted seeds for thought and served as a resource for participants. If given the opportunity, Scottsdale Community College would certainly bring her back. Becky Bradley, Scottsdale Community College
The program was very well received by our campus. It was an inspiring, yet informative story, and touched everyone in the audience, regardless of whether they had a personal connection to eating disorders. Shannon’s utilization of music brought a unique quality to the presentation, and captivated the audience. It was refreshing to hear about someone’s own drive to overcome an eating disorder, and the audience left feeling uplifted and hopeful. Jessica Hassinger, Active Minds, Dickinson College
I spoke to all of my students who attended each said they loved what Shannon said. They said she was very personable. Shannon is very informative; you can see she cares about what she is talking about. She speaks from the heart, which is how she touches others…I would welcome her come back again. -Tammy Bradley, Sports Psychologist, Power With-In
Have you ever heard the phrase, “Wherever you go, there you are”? The same could be said for our mentors. Shannon Cutts spoke to a crowd of several hundred students at Truman State University about body image and eating disorders. The truth she shared with students is that most of us simply don’t have time to stop and analyze all of the messages that come at us each day. Most of us don’t even have time to stop and notice that those messages are there. Yet they mentor us. They sink into our awareness anyway — whether we invited them to do so or not. Wherever we go, there we are. And our mentors will go with us… both the mentors we consciously choose, and the mentors which we allow to choose us unconsciously. Sebastian Oddo, Author of "Excuse Me, College is Now"
I wanted to thank you so much for coming to and speaking at the walk yesterday. It was great to finally meet you! Your speech was amazing, and I have heard from a lot of people that they loved it and were inspired. That is really the whole point of the walk, so I am so happy that you were our keynote. Jessica Meltzer, Austin National Eating Disorders Association (NEDA) Walk Coordinator
It was such a great pleasure to meet Shannon. It was such a nice opportunity for our staff to get to meet Shannon, learn all about MentorCONNECT and the mission . Shannon really did a nice job with her presentation. She connected with her audience, the students waited in-line to talk to her afterward. The message really connected. I think that everyone at Marquette and Rogers was very pleased. Thanks again for everything. I think the world of Shannon. I really enjoyed spending the day with her. Janet Gatlin, Rogers Memorial Hospital/Marquette University
This was the first big speaker that we’ve had to campus in awhile that wasn’t related to the school’s speaker series. It was a new effort to connect to the students, and Shannon made it very easy. Not only was she engaging and present for all of the staff and students before the presentation but she also engaged the students incredibly during the program and again in the evening over a meal. Everyone had great things to say about her program – they could all relate and found it engaging, humorous, and yet touching. Laura Anderson, Fisher College
I met you at the NEDA 2009 discussion panel with the Joy Project/Emily Program. I didn't get a chance to tell you at the end how much of an inspiration you are! Our stories are very simliar with not getting professional help. And it is wonderful to hear simliar stories you can relate to! Thanks again for coming and hope to hear more from you soon! -Jenna
Thanks so much for bring Shannon Cutts to campus today. I had invited students from both my Psych of Women and Soc of Womanhood classes to attend for extra credit if they wrote a review linking the program to the work we're doing in class. I was happy to see about seven of them in the audience. The program tied in perfectly with the work we're doing on body image in Psych and media pressure in Soc. I really enjoyed her presentation as well. Again, thanks. Susan Jordan, Associate Professor of English and Women's Studies
Hi Shannon - I wanted to tell you how much I enjoyed your program. I had class right after and I didn't get to tell you how much I truly enjoyed it. I found myself on the verge of tears the entire time, because of my long battle with Anorexia. I loved listening to your story, and you truly inspired me to keep eating and to stay healthy. Sometimes I forget how mean my friend ED was, and you reminded me. Your songs and your words are truly inspiring. -kj, from the web
It was so great to finally meet you in person last week! I just wanted to thank you personally for contributing to the event!! You were a great addition! Your passion for life and your story gave me goose bumps!! I think you are a very strong individual and have so much to share with the world!! Thanks for sharing your stories and experiences with our community! -Kristina, The Emily Program
Shannon presented some very compelling research behind her ideas about body image in the media. I believe this helped to make her points very clear and strong. She did a great job in demonstrating how early in life negative beliefs about one’s body can begin to form, and how much others’ comments can impact us. Shannon’s presentation was very moving, and touched many people’s hearts. She is very open about her own story, and that adds to its impact. These are real issues that affect thousands of people, and we need to continue to deconstruct harmful perspectives on people’s bodies in North American society. We need to develop a new paradigm that shifts the focus off of people’s bodies. We really enjoyed having Shannon here, and we had a turnout of 175 people at the event. It was a great success! It was a real pleasure to meet Shannon and be inspired by her! -Suzanne Welstead, University of Guelph, Canada