Speaker brings ‘I can’ message to students at Willow Creek Composite

By Rob Vogt Local Press Writer
Students were entertained, inspired, and challenged by a guest speaker last week who told them they can do anything if they want to.
Chris Koch, a Nanton native, who was born missing arms and legs, discussed not only what that was like growing up but how he has accomplished so much in life.
His mother is from Claresholm and his father is from Nanton. He went to elementary and high school in Nanton, and helped out on the family farm while growing up.
Koch said there are two reasons life was normal when he was growing up.
The first was that he had a good sense of humour.
“Humour can get you through some challenging days,” Koch said, cautioning it should not be at someone else’s expense. “If you can’t laugh at life, what can you laugh at?”
Humour is also a good ice breaker for people who when they first meet him.
“They realize I’m just a regular dude,” he said.
Humour is also important with all the things that have been happening in the world.
“We need to laugh a little bit more,” he said.
The other reason for his life being normal is that Koch never knew what it was like to have arms and legs. He observed if his family did everything for him, it honestly would have made him lazy.
“If I would have sat long enough someone else would do it,” Koch said. “It would have robbed me of doing things.”
Instead he had to learn to do things on his own, in a modified way, such as learning to run farm equipment.
He has been asked why he doesn’t wear prosthetics. It was 12 years ago that he stopped wearing artificial legs and moves around using a skateboard instead. He noted it felt like he was wearing stilts all day when he wore the prosthetics.
When he doesn’t wear prosthetics, people’s reaction is different. They see him as authentic.
His main occupation now is doing presentations.
“‘If I can’, is the message,” he said. “Everyone in this room is capable of doing some pretty amazing things.”
A person’s mindset plays a big role. It can help or prevent someone from doing what they want.
He also talked about bullying and how one person saying one negative thing can have such an impact.
He said you cannot give attention to one person saying something hurtful.
“That one thing can really sting,” Koch said.
He observed people are now more bold to be ignorant, especially when they hide behind a
keyboard and screen.
Koch said that can be met with a two-pronged approach.
One is to develop a thick skin.
“We all have a choice – we can be mean or we can be kind,” he said, noting it takes more energy to be mean. “It’s a choice we make every morning.”
Koch said every day may not be great, but there is something great in every day.
Everybody is also going through something. People most often don’t know what that is, so why pile on?
Koch stressed his challenges were no different than anyone else’s.
“It’s all equal,” he said. “It’s a level playing field.”
There are two options – saying “this sucks” or living life.
“Try and find one positive thing,” he said. “It builds momentum.”
A day can spiral down or lift up.
“You have to be able to grab hold of that positivity,” Koch said.
It also means going out and trying new things, just like Koch who has done marathons and climbed towers.
“The core of the human spirit comes from new experiences,” he said. “Make the most of life.”
But it is all a choice to try new things.
“We have a choice,” he said. “We all have a choice.”