Naperville Central hosted Chicago Bears’ Director of Security Pete Spizzirri as the first of three athletic speaker events on Thursday, Oct. 24 during SOAR.

The speaker series, made in collaboration with the athletics department and the Postsecondary Advising & Resource Center, is intended to give students a view into their athletic post-secondary options outside of collegiate sports.

Spizzirri is also a Central alumnus from the Class of 1998. He will be followed by WCIA-TV Champaign Sportscaster Bret Beherns on Nov. 14 and Emily Westlove, Director of Community Relations & Charitable Events for the St. Louis Cardinals, on Dec. 5.

“There’s a million different opportunities out there,” Athletic Director Jeff Plackett said. “We’re trying to help make the connections and bring people in to show [students] that if you have an interest in [business] but a parallel passion for sports, you can turn that into a career.”

Spizzirri focused on the power of perseverance during his speech to Central. About a dozen students attended the speaker series.

“You gotta suffer in your life to appreciate the grind,” Spizzirri said. “You’ll learn more from your adversity about who you are and what you’re capable of than you do from your victories.”

Students can sign up for upcoming speaker series using the “Responsive Scheduling” tab on Infinite Campus under Plackett’s SOAR offering.