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.

CJ Garside

Throughout elementary and junior high, I had it in my head that I was supposed to ‘play by the books’ in order to succeed. Find the right college, get the high paying job, and ultimately dedicate yourself to it your whole life. High school came around and I still hadn’t made a decision about what career best fit me. I knew I always loved photography, Read more>>

Alexander Ladd

I grew up as what most would call, an “army brat”, so it was very common to go to a school for a year or two only to move somewhere else afterwards. It was mentally overwhelming at times trying to make new friends, forget about the old ones, and get use to a new culture. Read more>>

Layla Vazquez

Without realizing it the first time I learned this lesson was in 2nd grade. The counselor would come in once a week and show us flash cards demonstrating different important words such as teamwork, determination and mental health. The word that I have a true core memory of learning was perseverance. The counselor said, “Before we start today’s lesson does anyone remember what this word from last week means?” Read more>>

Stephanie Saunders

“No” is your strongest asset. We live in a world where SAY YES has become very popular. But the best advice I ever received was in graduate school. I actually went to school for acting, which is not all that different from a real estate but thats another article. The reason this advice was given to us is becomes sometimes our careers are based on what we don’t do Read more>>

Katie Melnick

The most important lesson Jasen and I learned in design school is that we should never stop learning. To fuel our growth as designers, we decided to take our studies abroad and explore the creative scenes in Holland, Italy, and Switzerland. A few eyars ago w studied in Milan, Italy; Read more>>

Katharina Mace

One of the most important lessons that changed the way I approach illustration is that failure is the first step in learning. Growing up in school, I always put the pressure on myself to get things right on the first try. Whether it was trying to learn a new concept in math or working on a speech, Read more>>