Khan Kickoff Pep Talk: Akbar Gbajabiamila

Khan Academy students, what's going on? It's Akbar Bajabiamila, host of American Ninja Warrior. I just wanted to check in with you guys, but also to wish you a happy new year. It's 2021.

Things are going to be a lot different, and I know in 2020 things got crazy, right? We had the isolation, and a lot of us were struggling, going through the ups and the downs. Things at home were starting to change because of COVID-19. Well, this is a new year, a new mindset.

As you can see, I'm inside of my office, and you can see some of my football jerseys. What I love about football, what I love about American Ninja Warrior, is that you constantly have obstacles that you have to overcome. That is going to happen regardless if it's a good year or a bad year, that we saw—and I put in quote because that's all relative—that we saw in 2020.

So, my coach used to tell me this, and I truly do believe this: tough times don't last, but tough people do. And to be tough, what does that mean? Does that mean you have to growl? Like, no. What it means is that you're willing to accept the challenges that are in front of you. You're willing to go with the ups and the downs, but you're also knowing that you have this trajectory; you're going up.

So, to the Khan Academy students, I say this to you: be an American Ninja Warrior in the classroom, at home, during your personal life, whatever it is that you're going through. Have that mindset that is, "I will overcome." You're going to overcome whatever those obstacles.

And then, when I see you at that buzzer, when you get up that warp wall in life, in school, and in your personal life, and you hit that buzzer, I'm gonna say, "I see you! I see you hitting that buzzer!"

So, take on 2021 with a new mindset, a new attitude. Don't look in the past; it's just something for you to reflect on and move forward. I'll leave you with this: take every stumbling block—in school, in life, and whatever—and turn it into a stepping stone.

You got that? Stumbling block into a stepping stone—that's your challenge for 2021. Alright, you guys are Khan Academy Ninja Warriors! Have a great school year, and we'll talk soon.