“I stopped living for myself and started living for a higher purpose. I believe because of that, a higher entity is looking out for me.”

— DaQuan Coleman, who overcame family violence and incarceration for theft to earn his GED through Rowan-Cabarrus Community College and enroll at Livingstone College

“We’ve got some talent. We’ve got some young talent coming up and older talent coming back.”

— Brett Hatley, a Rowan County native who was named the new head baseball coach at East Rowan High School

“This is what true teamwork is all about: Trust and believing in each other.”

— Teresa Dakins, community outreach coordinator of Trinity at Home, on the camaraderie among co-workers who will compete as a team in the Rowan County Chamber of Commerce’s sixth annual Dragon Boat Festival at High Rock Lake on July 27

“The body follows the head. If you can expose the mind in a way that … gives them an opportunity to understand themselves, they gain confidence.”

— River Lewis, a Morehouse College graduate who’s organizing his fourth Operation Summer Exposure camp as a way to mentor teenage boys of minority communities

“If every day is like today, it’d be great.”

— Olivia Lorenz, an employee of Hive crafts shop, on the first day of the Krazy Klearance and Restaurant Week business promotion that continues through Saturday in downtown Salisbury

“It just shows we are human.”

— Lt. Greg Beam of the Salisbury Police Department, on the agency’s increased use of social media to reach out to the public, including posting videos of officers sporting tattoos and playing basketball with neighborhood youths in an attempt to soften their image