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.
Rachel Ezrine Wasserman
There is a parable that tells the tale of two people walking by a river when they notice babies floating down the river. One starts grabbing the babies out of the river, while the other runs upstream. The first asks, “Where are you going?! We have to save these babies,” and the other replies, “I’m going to see who’s throwing babies in the river.” Read more>>
Phyllis Shenny
I studied all the art classes in my High School and then went to Parson’s School of Design. I learned a lot and graduated with a BFA degree in Communications Design and worked in ad agencies starting at the bottom and up to art director. Eventually I started working independently and ran my own design studio. I had some success for over 20 years when I retired to raise my family. Read more>>
Rob Koenig
Barber school is about learning from your mistakes, something I’m not particularly well suited for because I get very hyper focused on mistakes. I had to learn that there’s never going to be a perfect haircut or beard service, in the end that’s not really the goal due to said unattainability, and that focusing on the comfort and enjoyment of my client was the prime motivation. Most clients, if you’re at least attempting a quality service, are not likely to see all the supposed “mistakes” especially if you just gave them an incredibly relaxing service. Read more>>
Donte Goodwin
The greatest lesson I learned in my journey in life is you can do anything you put your mind to. I chose this topic of important/impactful lessons learned in school because it relates to this story! In my fourth grade class I was desk mates with a kid born with a disability. He didn’t let the disability become an excuse. He was born with only 2 fingers on one of his hands. One day I saw a drawing of his in class. Read more>>