'Your dreams have to be bigger than your problems,' Steve Harvey tells students

Steve Harvey, SIBF, Sharjah International Book Fair, Sharjah Book Fair

Sharjah - American comedian interacted with thousands of students on the second day of SIBF.

Dhanusha Gokulan

Published: Thu 31 Oct 2019, 12:37 PM

Last updated: Sun 3 Nov 2019, 12:27 AM

Award-winning American television personality and comedian Steve Harvey wrote a and told and million 'poor' jokes before writing the right ones. The principal guest of honour at the 2019 edition of the Sharjah International Book Fair (SIBF), Harvey said, it was his unwavering faith in God, undying desire to succeed, and discipline that helped him recover from abject poverty, and rise to the stardom the enjoys today.
American comedian Broderick Stephen Harvey, better known as Steve Harvey, left a large auditorium of school students at the Sharjah Expo Centre spellbound and filled with a sense of determination on Thursday, October 31. He also touched upon the 2015 Miss Universe mess-up, where he mistakenly announced the wrong Miss Universe.

"With that incident, God had increased my global brand and persona. I didn't really appreciate the way he did it, but I was the world's most famous person for 48 hours," he said.
He interacted with thousands of students on the second day of SIBF, providing witty anecdotes and inspiration to students on how they can achieve success in a harsh world. Harvey hosts The Steve Harvey Morning Show, Family Feud, Celebrity Family Feud, the Miss Universe pageant since 2015, and Fox's New Year's Eve since 2017.

Harvey said he made it at a time when there were very few black people on television. "My family said to me, get a job like your brothers and sisters. We grew up very poor. My father was a coal miner, and my mother was a Sunday school teacher," he said, adding, "There were no black people in television. My family said to me that I got to get a job like my brothers and my father. No one in my family, neighbourhood, or my school was a TV star," he said.

However, Harvey told all young people gathered, "The dream you have, has to be bigger than all your problems. When I was homeless, my dream was bigger; and I was black, that didn't stop me from dreaming big. When you have God, you have everything."

Before he landed his first TV gig, he was homeless for three years and lived out of his car. Harvey said he wanted to become a TV star when there were very few black Americans on television. "Bill Cosby was my very first role model. I found it fascinating that he could talk back to people on the TV," said Harvey.

"Television in the US is different. You have to be careful, and Hollywood is an ugly place. I don't recommend it to anybody as it is very tough. If you are not a person of faith, you will not make it. There's much corruption," he added. He advised young people to surround themselves with likeminded people and said there is no substitute for hard work.

dhanusha@khaleejtimes.com