Pro football player Mike Adams, a safety with the National Football League’s Indianapolis Colts, had a roomful of 3rd- to 6th-graders in the palm of his hand when he described the high school coach who discouraged him by insisting he wasn’t strong enough to play football. “So I went to the weight room and started lifting weights,” he said to great applause, noting it was the first significant step in leading him to the career he has today. Adams’ appearance was among the highlights of a three-day summer camp sponsored by PricewaterhouseCoopers and the UFT to foster financial literacy, life skills and career readiness at union headquarters at the end of July. On the first day, more than 100 students from PS 335, PS 184 and PS 156 in Brooklyn and PS 1 and PS 30 in Manhattan were given this challenge: “What would you do with $100?” Working with young volunteers from the company, the campers had fun while learning about spending, budgeting, planning and earning through conversation, role-playing, games and lots of thinking about their futures. In his presentation, Adams told of the power that comes with overcoming obstacles. Early career struggles such as not being drafted by a team “made me hungry, made me a better player,” Adams explained. “Adversity is part of who I am.” His rapt audience listened intently as Adams shared what he said to himself when he put on his helmet and stepped onto an NFL playing field for the first time: “You made it!” That story pretty much summed up his message for the students: “Believe in yourselves!”