Show up, be likable, have a goal and ask for help.

These are the four key components the former star of the Netflix series “Last Chance U,” Brittany Wagner, stressed to students at St. Aloysius High School on Wednesday.

Wagner, who was the former academic advisor at East Mississippi Community College, made a name for herself after becoming instrumental in helping change the lives of some of the school’s athletes, who either did not have the grades to play Division I football or had disciplinary issues.

Wagner has since left the junior college and has started her own academic counseling business, 10 Thousand Pencils, named after the phrase she coined “Do you have a pencil” — meaning are you ready for class.

Wagner now travels the country speaking to high school, junior college and college students as well as faculty and staffs of schools on how to better teach at risk students, she said.

One of the things Wagner said she likes to stress when she speaks is that if someone has a dream, they can achieve it.

“Sometimes I don’t think they (students) have the know-how to get themselves out of where they are,” Wagner said.

“So my story to them is that the guys they see on the TV show or the guys that were at EMCC are from these same schools that I am talking to, and that they are now successful and are playing in the NFL. They started in the same place and all it takes is some effort and some belief in yourself, some confidence and that’s my message that you can do this, that you are good enough and you have value and that value doesn’t come from how big your house is or your parent’s last name, you have value and you can do something with your life.”

“But you have to show up,” Wagner said. “You gotta’ go to class or go to work, but when you are there, you have to be present in that moment and put forth effort.  We don’t all possess the qualities that we need to be great, no one has all the qualities, but you can focus on the qualities you do have and then work on the ones you don’t have,” she said.

Time management and responsibility is another thing, Wagner said young people need to focus on.

“There is no fairy dust. People get where they are because they work,” she said.

Wagner admitted to the students that she was not a high achiever when she started college and was not even sure what she wanted to do with her life, but she did know she wanted to make a difference, which became her goal.

“I didn’t want to just float through life being given what I had been given by coming from a great family and living in a brick house and been given a great education.  I didn’t just want to float through life with all that stuff and then it mean nothing.”

Before taking the job at EMCC, Wagner said she was working at Mississippi State University and when she got the call about coming to the junior college, she kind of blew it off.

“I was like no, ‘why would I want to do that. I was in the SEC, but then I had to stop myself, and say, ‘wait a minute. What is my goal?’ My goal was to make a difference in people’s lives, and in the SEC I did not know if I was really doing that, but at Scooba, Mississippi, at East Mississippi College, I could make a difference,” she said.

Wagner also encouraged the students to be likable and ask questions.

“Being likable is half the battle,” Wagner said, and suggested that students sit in the front row of their classes and be engaged, because she said when a teacher remembers you put forth the effort, it could influence your standing when it comes to having borderline grades.

But when you are a jerk and act like you don’t care, Wagner said, teachers are human and respond accordingly.

“I don’t care if you are an A student or an F student, you will never get the highest grade possible in class, if you don’t show up and you are not likable,” Wagner said.

Finally, Wagner said to ask questions.

If you are struggling, say something to somebody, because it could be the difference in you getting to your goal and not getting to your goal,” she said.

Connor Clark, who is a senior at St. Al said Wagner’s talk was very motivational. 

“If I gave you one word to describe her (Wagner) and her impact, it was truly inspirational. It is amazing to think that people are out there that can make that big of a difference,” Clark said.

St. Al high school junior Preston Clark, Jr. also described Wagner’s talk as inspirational.

“I took a lot from it,” Clark said.

While Wagner was speaking with the male students, former Miss Mississippi Laura Lee Lewis was also a guest at the school.

She addressed the 7 through 12th grade girls on positive self image as well as valuing others.

“We are very excited about these awesome opportunities for our students,” community outreach coordinator at the Vicksburg Catholic School Kara Doiron said.