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Independence, MO —
Right out of college, Nate Stodghill didn’t really want to be a nuclear engineer.
Stodghill, a 2007 graduate of Grain Valley High School, had attended the Missouri University of Science and Technology in Rolla, Mo. He majored in nuclear engineering, played football and joined a fraternity.
After graduating in 2011, Stodghill decided to try out for MTV’s “The Real World,” a show that is credited with launching the reality TV genre in 1992.
“Next thing I know, I get this call that says I have a final interview,” Stodghill said.
While in California, waiting outside the studio for his final interview, his phone rang. Following up on a job interview gone on a month earlier, Stodghill was offered a six-figure salary job as a petroleum engineer.
The employer needed to know that day whether Stodghill would take the job. He turned it down.
“I was like, ‘Ugh, I can’t do it,’” Stodghill said. “It was just one of those things that I can always go and be an engineer later, but I don’t always have the opportunity to be on a TV show.”
He made the cast of “The Real World: San Diego,” which aired from September through December 2011.
“It was really different, to tell you the truth, because I’m a kid from Grain Valley and I show up at a house on a cliff overlooking the beach in San Diego,” Stodghill said.
But Stodghill, 23, didn’t want the limelight for himself. He admitted that some people just go on “The Real World” for the partying or for self-serving reasons.
“If that would’ve been my sole motive – to just get on TV – I would’ve taken the other job,” he said. “That wouldn’t have been beneficial for anybody.”
His mission was bigger: Stodghill wanted to bring awareness and prevention to teen suicide and suicide in general.
At Grain Valley High, Stodghill seemed to have it all: He was student body president and captain of the football and baseball teams. Then, in his senior year, one of his best friends committed suicide, and Stodghill said he saw how the aftermath and devastation could really collapse a community.
“I learned so much from it that now my outlook on life is that ‘if the sky is cloudy, at least you get to have that day,’ and to not take the small things for granted,” Stodghill said.
Right out of college, Nate Stodghill didn’t really want to be a nuclear engineer.
Stodghill, a 2007 graduate of Grain Valley High School, had attended the Missouri University of Science and Technology in Rolla, Mo. He majored in nuclear engineering, played football and joined a fraternity.
After graduating in 2011, Stodghill decided to try out for MTV’s “The Real World,” a show that is credited with launching the reality TV genre in 1992.
“Next thing I know, I get this call that says I have a final interview,” Stodghill said.
While in California, waiting outside the studio for his final interview, his phone rang. Following up on a job interview gone on a month earlier, Stodghill was offered a six-figure salary job as a petroleum engineer.
The employer needed to know that day whether Stodghill would take the job. He turned it down.
“I was like, ‘Ugh, I can’t do it,’” Stodghill said. “It was just one of those things that I can always go and be an engineer later, but I don’t always have the opportunity to be on a TV show.”
He made the cast of “The Real World: San Diego,” which aired from September through December 2011.
“It was really different, to tell you the truth, because I’m a kid from Grain Valley and I show up at a house on a cliff overlooking the beach in San Diego,” Stodghill said.
But Stodghill, 23, didn’t want the limelight for himself. He admitted that some people just go on “The Real World” for the partying or for self-serving reasons.
“If that would’ve been my sole motive – to just get on TV – I would’ve taken the other job,” he said. “That wouldn’t have been beneficial for anybody.”
His mission was bigger: Stodghill wanted to bring awareness and prevention to teen suicide and suicide in general.
At Grain Valley High, Stodghill seemed to have it all: He was student body president and captain of the football and baseball teams. Then, in his senior year, one of his best friends committed suicide, and Stodghill said he saw how the aftermath and devastation could really collapse a community.
“I learned so much from it that now my outlook on life is that ‘if the sky is cloudy, at least you get to have that day,’ and to not take the small things for granted,” Stodghill said.
While on the show, Stodghill met Trevor Jones and Travis Lubinsky, co-owners of Flex Watches. Each of the 10 watch colors represent a different charity. The company then gives back 10 percent of its annual profits to those charitable organizations.
Stodghill asked if suicide prevention could have its own Flex Watch. Now, the light blue band Flex Watch represents Stodghill’s company, The Living Memoir.
Online, The Living Memoir provides an outlet for people to express how they feel in a time of crisis, including suicide awareness. Mental health professionals moderate the site, and eventually, Stodghill would like The Living Memoir to obtain a nonprofit status.
Stodghill’s appearances regarding suicide awareness have garnered national and now international attention. After speaking on both the East and West coasts and at high schools across the U.S., he received an email from the U.S. Embassy, asking if he could spread his message to Latvia where suicide rates, especially are men, are high.
So today, Stodghill leaves for Latvia, where he’ll spend several weeks educating others about The Living Memoir and suicide prevention.
“It’s all on the fly right now,” he said of the trip. “Even though we’ve done months of preparation, I know when I get there we’ll have to wing some things, but that’s cool.”
Some people, Stodghill said, still think he is crazy for turning down the high-paying engineering job. For him, he doesn’t mind not being an engineer, skipping a life of red tape and monotony for now.
“I’ll make money later. I’m not really worried about that right now,” Stodghill said. “A lot of people say they want to change the world and make the world a better place. I’ve made a lot of sacrifices to get to where I am, and I feel like I’m making the world a better place. I do actually sleep soundly at night because I know I’m making the world a better place.”
