Challenges are a way of life for William Kamkwamba.
When he was 14 and living in Africa, he built a windmill using parts from a junkyard to provide electricity for his family's farm.
"Challenges are not there to stop you but are there to encourage you, to strengthen you," the 24-year-old inventor and author told a crowd of about 45 students and community members Tuesday evening at the University of Tennessee at Chattanooga.
Beyond the homemade windmill, Kamkwamba knows a thing or two about overcoming obstacles. Growing up in Malawi, a country in southeastern Africa, he attended a few months of high school but had to leave because his parents could not pay the fees for the school
Wanting to continue his education, he went to the library regularly and one day stumbled upon a book with a picture of wind turbines on the cover, prompting the windmill idea. The project garnered attention in the media and among intellectuals.
With the publicity, money was raised to pay for Kamkwamba to go to back to high school. After graduating, he started at New Hampshire's Dartmouth College in fall 2010.
At UTC, Kamkwamba recounted the story of building the windmill in his talk and in his book, "The Boy Who Harnessed the Wind: Creating Currents of Electricity and Hope," which incoming UTC freshmen read and discussed as part of the inaugural year of the school's First Year Reading Experience program.
The program aims to improve student retention and success and build a "community of readers" by having first-year students read and discuss a common book, said Joe Wilferth, a UTC English professor and a member of the Reading Experience committee.
Wilferth said Kamkwamba's book was selected from the 70 nominated titles because it "would appeal to a broad audience."
Earlier Tuesday, Kamkwamba gave a multimedia presentation to freshmen, Wilferth said, and about 70 students stayed afterward to have him autograph their books.
Kamkwamba said he was honored to have his book as the first one selected for First Year Reading Experience. He wrote the book to share his story, he said, and he's happy when his book is embraced.
UTC freshman Dania Barbosa, 18, said she enjoyed seeing Kamkwamba after reading his book.
"It was cool to put a face with a person," she said.
Carolanne McKenzie, a 22-year-old UTC senior, had not read Kamkwamba's book but was still impressed by his story.
"He's very motivated. He's very intelligent. He's a go-getter," she said.
The university will try to continue to hold programming throughout the year related to concepts in the book, Wilferth said.