We asked some of the brightest folks from within the community to reflect back on their days in school and to share with us a story of when they learned a particularly important or impactful lesson. We’ve shared highlights below.

Jonathan Haupt

Throughout junior high school and high school, I enjoyed writing–but I loved the sciences, and especially chemistry. In the lab, unlike in life, it seemed, there were solutions. Right answers. Overt successes and achievements. And that was tremendously validating to me, the opposite of the uncertainty I encountered in all other aspects of my life as a hopelessly awkward and painfully shy kid. So I thought that would be my path through college and into my professional life as well: a degree in chemistry, a minor in English, and ultimately a job as a technical writer for a laboratory corporation. Read more>>

Beth and Bailey

Beth: this is a series of lessons from my time studying Architecture studio at Ohio State. The program requires great initiative and resourcefulness to get through it. I am the only one responsible for understanding what needs to be done. I am the only one responsible for figuring out how to do it. I am the only one responsible to find the tools, learn the requirements, and get it done on time. Each studio project required hours and hours and hours of model building and strategizing. It was a combination of rigor, creativity, and grit that made me successful in that environment. Read more>>

Chris Gonzalez

Here are my top 3 things I learned in college as an undergraduate student and in graduate school. 1, Take risks- For me, college was about experiencing and learning new things, but to do so, I had to make a conscious effort to do things that were outside my comfort zone. I came to realize that college was a safe place to learn and express new ideas, and eventually, I learned that most people admired this concept of being a self-learner. Read more>>