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.

Kathy Vail

One of the most important lessons that I’ve learned is how important a sense of belonging is to our students. Coaching high school and middle school students, I often ask them to tell me why they like fencing. While the answers differ from fencer to fencer, the majority say something about liking the people they are fencing with. This struck me as one of the most important aspects of youth sports: Enjoying a fun, healthy activity in a safe, structured environment with people who share a common interest Read more>>

Deborah McGlawn

One of the most important lessons I learned in grade school, was from Ms. Peacock, my favorite teacher at Charjean, Elementary, placed in the heart of Orange Mound, in Memphis, TN. The lesson presented in an actual quote that has carried me throughout the years. The quote is: “If it is to be, it is up to me,” by African-American painter William H. Johnson. Read more>>

Erika Bailon

Growing up I was a very shy person. Always scared of making questions because what would people think of me if I am doing questions that have a very “easy” answer. During classes, I wouldn’t raise my hand to ask questions or to participate. I would however wait until the end of the class to go talk to the professor about my questions or comments in the lecture. Back then, classes were 30-40 kids big. It was intimidating, but I always did pretty good in school. In 2010 I moved to the U.S. I was 20 years old and I didn’t know English. The thought of going back to school was terrifying, so it took me a while to get into a classroom again. In 2016 I decided to go back to school, and to my surprise, the classes now had about 200-300 people in one lecture. Read more>>

Toni Takabayashi

I had no idea what to expect looking for an apprenticeship. I had just decided against going to college for jewelry design and knew I had my opportunity to follow a long time dream of becoming a tattoo artist. I knew that I had to at least try, right? Even if I failed I knew that I’d regret it forever if I never made the effort. I definitely got a couple hard, discouraging “no”s before meeting my mentor. This definitely made me determined to not waste this opportunity and I was set on learning everything he was willing to teach me. I appreciate that despite any hard experiences I’ve had during my apprenticeship that by the end I was able to tattoo, and that I feel like I’ve learned more than just that. Read more>>

Jenn Lopez

The fondest memory and greatest lesson I learned from one of my mentors is knowing my worth. I was working as a production coordinator but my passion and side gig had been photography for at least 5 years at this time. Our ad shop had just hired a full time photographer and one day I went to go introduce myself. I asked for advice about how to charge people the proper price for photography gigs. He didn’t know me at the time, and he gave me advice on starting up in photography, mentioning that when one starts off, you may have to charge cheaper until you build up your portfolio. I took everything in and I was super grateful for all the advice he shared with someone he had just met. I told him I would send him my portfolio to look at and any other advice he had to offer would be greatly appreciated. Read more>>

Rich Rodriguez

My first and only internship was with Tommy Hilfiger in New York. I moved to New York to attend Parsons School of Design post-undergrad, and my first goal was to find an internship in the fashion industry that I could make into a full-time job. I knew I had to make myself useful to the point where they felt I had to be hired. I thought it was the best chance to be in the industry and make a life in New York (which was also a dream!). Read more>>