Romeo's Passion

The folks from the Cupertino Educational Endowment Foundation know a little something about answering a call to action. Last year CEEF partnered with the Cupertino Union School District to raise $2.5 million to keep teachers’ jobs in the face of budget cuts.

With its upcoming fundraiser, CEEF hopes to help empower students to meet the challenges they face both on and off campus with similar drive and passion. Today the foundation is hosting a presentation by motivational speaker Romeo Marquez Jr., aptly titled "It's Time." A portion of the proceeds from the event, set for 7:30 p.m. at Bluelight Cinemas, will go toward CUSD educational programs that CEEF helps fund.

Marquez, who studied acting at UCLA, plays five roles in "It's Time," portraying a teacher and four students. He describes the show as "a positive wake-up call to everyone that they deserve to live in a world with purpose, passion, joy and pure love."

"To me, living a purposeful life means to do the things you love with love," Marquez says. "It means to live your dreams and never giving up. It means to share those special gifts within you to inspire other people all over the world. It means to love your family, friends and everyone around you on a consistent basis."

While Marquez still enjoys and pursues acting jobs, he says he found his life's purpose as a motivational speaker and life coach. To that end, he has trained with Jack Canfield, co-creator of the "Chicken Soup for the Soul" series, to hone his skills as a "human-potential trainer." He also combined his passions when he toured as an educational theater performer with Kaiser Permanente's theater programs for two years, presenting to more than 300 school assemblies and workshops on topics such as bullying, peer pressure, domestic violence and gang violence.

"Acting, along with writing and directing, has been my vehicle to connect my audience closer to their passions and dreams," Marquez says, adding that his goal is "to inspire and elevate  others to live each day with excitement so that they reach their greatest potential in a truthful, loving way."

For high school students, reaching their potential may mean overcoming challenges like violence, bullying, isolation, hopelessness, teasing and negative influences. In his presentations, Marquez addresses these issues by using examples from his own life as well as from audience members who have shared their experiences with him. He says his show business experience also helps him connect with younger audiences.

"I've worked [as a life coach] on a variety of Hollywood sets and worked with wide range of celebrities such as Jim Carrey, Kelly Clarkson, Black Eyed Peas, Dwayne 'The Rock' Johnson, Anthony Hopkins and  Disney's High School Musical star, Monique Coleman," Marquez says. "Students are usually hip to today's pop culture so when they find out I've worked with certain celebrities, they tend to become more apt to listen."

Marquez encourages his audiences to be kinder and more supportive of one another, but he also directs his message to those who are on the receiving end of unkind words or deeds.

"Technology has surfaced new problems and augmented existing issues for today's youth, a lot of it being through cyber-bullying through social networking," he notes. "But here's the thing: Every person has a choice to believe what others say about them or not. I believe other people's opinions should not define who someone truly is.

"If someone says you can't do something, but you truly think you can,  then do it and prove yourself right," Marquez adds. "Keep believing in yourself. Have faith. Be kind. And never let anyone tell you can't do something. Why? Because you can."