BIDDEFORD — “Every single one of you is a 10.”

That was the message from singer, dancer, actor and motivational speaker Alex Boyé on Wednesday morning at Biddeford High School, the first of three appearances in the school system that day in honor of Red Ribbon Week and Suicide Prevention Month.

Boyé spoke about his childhood in England. When he was a young boy, his mother told him she was going to Nigeria for three weeks and never came back. He was left in the care of an abusive uncle and when he was 16 found himself homeless and eating out of trash cans.

“Even though I went through all that darkness and abuse, I’m still a 10,” he said.

Standing next to a trash can, he spoke about another type of trash – trash talking. Trash talking is normalized, while complimenting ourselves is not, he said. People need to change their mindset and stop putting themselves down, said Boyé.

“We compare the best of what we see online to the worst we see in ourselves, it’s unrealistic,” he said.

Boyé shared a clip of the America’s Got Talent episode where the judges praised and applauded his cover of the Taylor Swift song “Shake it Off.”

“Why is it that I had to wait for four judges to tell me I was amazing before I started to believe it?” he told the crowd.

He urged the students to change the way they talked about themselves and to use positive language when explaining who they were.

“Don't speak negatively about yourself, even as a joke. Your body doesn't know the difference. Words are energy and they cast spells, that's why it's called spelling. Change the way you speak about yourself, and you can change your life,” said Boyé, quoting martial artist Bruce Lee.

Boyé ended the presentation with an energetic rendition of his song, “I’m a 10,’ dancing around the room in his sparkly gold sneakers and taking selfies with students in the audience. He gave students an assignment before closing – for the next seven days, look in the mirror ten times a day and say, “I am amazing.”

Publisher Liz Gotthelf can be reached at newsdesk@sacobaynews.com.