2018 Homecoming King Cedric L. Dent, a senior social work major, and Interim Dean of Students Dr. Gabe Willis spoke about their life experiences in “A Real Talk Conversation with the King.”

The talk was held in the Student Union Theatre at 6 p.m. on Nov. 27.

For Dent, the event provided more than an opportunity to venture beyond his comfort zone.

Dent said, “It allowed me to step outside of my comfort zone but also allowed me to share knowledge to those who came because anything Dr. Gabe or I would have said tonight, you never know how that could have impacted their life and how that can impact someone’s life. It’s just sharing the knowledge just to help people become better people.”

Willis described the event as “pretty cool.”

“You never know that people look at you in that light and want you on stage kind of talking about things such as leadership, raising a family, success and all that good stuff,” said Willis.

As homecoming king, Dent hopes to create a platform beyond a title with the event by “getting involved with the students personally but also giving them perspectives and allowing everyone to come together to unify the campus but also become better people.”

Willis hopes attendees learned from his and Dent’s perspectives.

“Based on the different questions that were asked, from my standpoint, I hope they really understood that failure is never permanent,” said Willis. “It’s only permanent if you quit, and from Ced’s standpoint, I think it’s really cool for them to see somebody who started off as a freshman not as rounded and well put together who’s now a senior who’s doing everything he set out to do.”