Hill Harper insisted audience members move in closer at the beginning of his presentation.

"Come down, don't be scared, we are going to have a conversation. If you guys come down, I'm going to come down," Harper said as he jumped off the stage and walked the aisles of the auditorium. "This discussion is the most important discussion you will ever have in your life up until now, the reason why is because it is what's actually happening now."

This is how Harper's speech began, with a call to audience members to move closer to be more involved in the conversation he wanted to have with them as a part of this year's Michael Davis Lecture

The Michael Davis Lecture was held on Feb. 25 in the Academic Hall Auditorium to honor the memory of Southeast Missouri State University student Michael Davis. The event brings influential media professionals and innovators to campus to share their knowledge with students and the community, like this year's guest Harper, an actor, philanthropist and best selling author, whose lecture focused on individuals creating the life they desire by being, what he called, their own architect.

Harper told the audience that no matter their age, path in life, year in school or the grades that they got, none of it mattered because it was in the past and he wanted them to begin to focus on what is next and what the future holds.

Harper began his speech by discussing the differences between impact and legacy and how people need to learn to combine the two in order to create success.

"When we walk out of here after our 35 or 40 minutes what's next? What type of impact and legacy do we want to have as individuals and as a collective?" Harper asked. "The words impact and legacy are very interesting to me because impact is something that an individual can have in a number of ways, and legacy is something an individual can have in a number of ways. But unless they are actually linked they can be somewhat destructive."

He then shared an example of impact by discussing how violent actions have immediate impact but those actions leave no legacy, and then an example of legacy without impact that young men create by having children but having no lasting impact on their children when they remain absent from their lives. He said that the two need to be married in order to make changes that will last, make an impact and leave a legacy.

Harper then called two audience members to the stage to act his as "experts" in the field of architecture and physics. Those two students were Julian Sanders and Paul Springer.

"For the purposes of my lecture these are my two experts," Harper said. "You may be asking me, 'Hill, what does your talk have to do with physics and architecture, and how does that involve us creating a life of impact and legacy?' Well first we need the four components to being the active architects of our own lives."

Harper, with the help of his student volunteers, began to discuss the steps an architect would need in order to build a structure, which then revealed the four components: start with a blueprint that lays out your plan but keep modifying it constantly; create a foundation for stability with family, faith and education; build a frame that will allow you to bend and mold to the environment around you; and create a door to enter into and to keep out others who are holding you back.

Harper said that in order for people to create the life they want, they need to follow these four steps and they need to be continuously changing and growing as goals they have for themselves grow as well. He shared an example of a friend he made during his time at Harvard University who he believed followed these steps to become a successful individual.

"On my third day of class at Harvard Law I wanted to blow off some steam, so I went to Hemenway Gymnasium and the funny thing about Harvard Law School is that the library is always full but the gym is always empty," Harper said. "So no one was there, so I decided to leave and in walked this tall skinny guy with his socks really high and his shorts were a little small and he looked kind of weird and he was dressed like Dr. J or Larry Bird."

This friend turned out to be future president of the United States, Barack Obama. The two were in the same class but Obama was in his 30s during his time at Harvard. Harper said that many people would not have taken the step Obama did to go back to school after he had already gained an undergraduate degree from Columbia University and completed seven years of community work in Chicago.

"I questioned him about why, after seven years, would you go back to school? By the time you graduate you will be over 30 with over $100,000 in student loan debt," Harper said. "But he realized that even though he had a BA, the size of the blueprint and the foundation he built for himself was not big enough to fulfill the size of his hopes and his dreams. So at 30 years old he had to go back to school. He made a choice that most of us would talk ourselves out of."

At the end of the discussion Harper asked the two students on the stage for the final component of the four step plan. Springer answered with "door". Harper then pulled out his wallet, sorted through the bills and then handed Springer money.

"When we step out of our comfort zone and use our brain, life tends to reward us," Harper said to Springer.

"I didn't know what to expect and I still haven't even checked to see how much it was," Springer said afterward as he reached into his pocket and pulled out the bills. Harper had handed him $40.

Springer, a sophomore majoring in multimedia journalism, said he was not expecting anything when he raised his hand to volunteer but planned to use the money to celebrate a friend's birthday.

"I wasn't expecting anything, and coincidentally my friend's birthday is coming up and she wanted everyone to go out to dinner and I can go now."

Harper's speech came full circle when he gave Springer the money, demonstrating that in one moment someone can impact a person's life and leave an impact on them and how they live.