Rap superstar Meek Mill returned to North Philadelphia to help inspire the next generation of leaders at a summit bringing together hundreds of high school and college students. The North Philadelphia native was joined by leaders from music, sports and business at Temple University’s Liacouras Center for the leadership summit, which lasted about six hours. “The more I saw people fail go to prison, lose their life. It made me put my time and energy into becoming who I am today,” Meek Mill said. Students had the chance to hear directly from industry leaders about their experiences and the lessons they learned along the way. “Everyone loves ‘dreams and nightmares,’ who doesn’t love that song. But it means and even more for the city because he grew up here, he became famous here, and he could be anywhere but he’s here helping us,” Temple sophomore Shea Murphy said. The inaugural summit happened in 2013 and returned to Temple for the first time in 13 years. Speakers encouraged students to learn from their mistakes, build meaningful relationships and believe in themselves. “There are going to be times that you fail. But whenever that happens, I always sit back and say what has this come to teach me,” one speaker said. For Temple senior Saniya Hayden, hearing from people who have had experiences similar to those of the students offered a reason for optimism. “It’s very nice to hear from Temple alumni but also higher up professionals who are able to tell us about their experiences and that they also came from a place that we have, so it gives us hope,” Hayden said. Meek Mill also brought some music to the event, getting students on their feet as he performed one of his best-known songs. The message throughout the summit was to follow your heart and passion while pursuing success. This story was originally reported for broadcast by NBC Philadelphia. AI tools helped convert the story to a digital article, and an NBC Philadelphia journalist edited the article for publication. This story uses functionality that may not work in our app. Click here to open the story in your web browser. ...read more read less