Nothing could seem more fitting than Dennis Barsema, acclaimed NIU alumnus, speaking in front of a packed classroom in the hall he helped build.

Dennis Barsema spoke before a standing room only classroom Monday night in Barsema Hall, Room 300. The event, hosted by the American Marketing Association, drew mainly business majors, despite Barsema’s generalized message.

Barsema, who spoke before the AMA last year, decided to change things this time and kept his speech generalized as opposed to strictly business-oriented.

“My message today is a little bit different,” Barsema said. “I think that the thing I always try to stress whenever I am out here is that I have no gifts that you don’t have. Most of you probably have more gifts than I had when I left Northern.”

Barsema stressed everyone, no matter their path in life, will have to overcome hurdles. The key to overcoming these challenges is knowing your gifts and under what circumstances you work best.

“My gift was a kind heart,” Barsema said. “I think I’ve got a lot of compassion and that has helped me to be successful. I’m a believer in my life that if you need to improve on something, throw yourself into the pool. You’re either going to swim or drown; that’s how I live my life.

The aim of Barsema’s speech was to inspire. While many listeners came to the event hoping for business advice and career tips, they instead came away with advice for life in general.

“Barsema donated all of the money for the business building and he’s very successful, so he knows the ins and outs of business and how it works so that’s why I’m here,” said Matthew Krop, sophomore accountancy major. “I think I got more on life in general than on my career.”

One of the life lessons Barsema stressed is the idea of building testimonials instead of titles. Titles will only get you so far in life, Barsema said, but the things that count are what people say about you after you’re gone.

“What would you rather have: titles or testimonies,” Barsema asked. “Titles come and titles go. In some cases, as you build titles, those titles are only good to you as long as you are doing something for someone else, which is OK because you have to do that in your life. But what is everlasting is testimony.”

Barsema said he advocates building strong morals in order to succeed in life or in your career. This is because it’s your morals that will pick you back up and push you forward when you inevitably fall.

“I’m a firm believer in that we’re all going to fall, but I believe that the mark of your character is how you rise from your fall,” Barsema said. “How you rise is going to be based on how strong you made your moral compass.”

Barsema ended his speech by reminding students it doesn’t take money to make a difference in the world, but it does take character.

“It was way more than we expected,” said Jennifer Kincaid, sophomore marketing major and vice president of AMA. “We were very scared that we wouldn’t fill the room and we exceeded capacity. Seeing all the people who wanted to ask questions is really cool. I just loved his speech, I thought it was fantastic. It really hit a personal note and kind of inspired me.”