This past Friday on March 2nd, 2018, Whitney M. Young Magnet High School had the pleasure of welcoming Mark Cuban to our school’s auditorium. Mark Cuban is a well known businessman (and also billionaire), owner of the Dallas Mavericks and 2929 Entertainment. You may also know him as one of the main investors on ABC Network’s “Shark Tank.”

Students from the junior and senior class who were either taking classes in business/economics and athletes, were invited to a question and answer session with Cuban, thanks to Max Kadish ’20 and his family connections with Cuban. Penn Koeneman ’18 and our principal Dr. Kenner interviewed him to begin with, followed by a student led Q&A , when any student from the audience was given an opportunity to ask Cuban questions.

While a variety of topics were discussed, Cuban’s responses had an overarching inspirational message to the high-schoolers to strive for success. Telling his “from rags-to-riches” story of starting out working odd-end jobs such as selling garbage bags door to door, or picking his college purely on the fact that it was the most inexpensive, Cuban emphasized working hard to achieve what you seek. This being especially important because our generation will be the future, and we will be the ones to impact the future. After listening to Cuban’s responses, students seemed to be moved by the Q&A session. Zaddeen Benaissa ’18 said “To be able to see Mark Cuban in person and hear him speak was an amazing experience. Hearing his backstory and what he thought about the world today was truly eye opening.” And Sophie Ljung ‘19 added, “He [Cuban] gave good advice for students, regarding their future.” Thank you Mark Cuban for visiting our school and inspiring our student body!