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.

Angelica Prescod

For me, one of the most important lessons I learned in school is that you’re never done learning. You’re never done reinventing yourself. You’re never done creating You’re never done dreaming. That was impactful for me, because it allowed for me to be the motivational speaker that’s flexible. I’m the motivational speaker that is willing to adjust and see the person for who they are today, understanding that they may be something else tomorrow. I learned to be fluid. Read more>>

Michelle Norwood

My school journey is an odd one, however, one that has definitely shaped my into the person that I am today. I attended 11 different schools over 12 years, insert shock and aw. I met and experienced many different people of different, cultures, races and economic background. I can converse with everyone and that is because, I was forced to early in life. Truly the best life lesson I could have every learned. While people often ask was it sad, I honestly knew no difference, so it was normal to me. Read more>>

Will Martin

In my senior year of high school, I had the unique opportunity to take a course in economics that ultimately had a profound impact on my future course of study. Leaving high school I jettisoned my previous passions for the hard sciences, most of all chemistry, for what I saw as the applied studies of social systems at the societal scale: economics. Economics had elements (no pun intended) of chemistry’s alchemical magic—the transformations of things from one state to another, from one quality to another. Read more>>

Joanna Thomas

I went to college for dance, acting, and singing. My major was acting. I was not the best dancer in class however I had to put a ballet piece together. Me, as a former hiphop inspired person. You can imagine that laughters, jokes, and pressure where all on my side! At the time I fell out with the director as well, which didn’t lead me to be great or confident at all! So, here we are in class week after week trying to put something together. Like in every creative process there are ups and downs and my down time came maybe right in the middle of the process and I was ready to give up. Read more>>

Jaslyn Tate

The most important lesson I learned in college was how to interact with people who were nothing like me. As a Tattoo Artist, I get to connect with people from all walks of life. My job is to service them and share love regardless of what they look like as well as their experience in life. I’ve learned so much from others and have had the opportunity to share parts of me to help them as well. There are many aspects of human interaction we don’t think about. Read more>>

Brook Carter

The most important lesson that I’ve learned is to not listen for criticism, rather to listen to understand their point. I learned this from my many years competing in and coaching slam poetry. Many of my friends and workshop buddies would only listen to the poem at hand to figure out what was “wrong” with it. Then, they would tell them their way of fixing it, completely neglecting the message of the poem. It’s the same thing in the business world. People (customers and workers alike) listen to the other to figure out what can or can’t be done. Instead of what event or service needs to be planned. Read more>>

Declan Magennis

The most important lesson I learnt growing up was how to manage my time well. I was attending dance class 5 times a week for up to four hours per day while trying to study for my end of school exams which I needed to get good scores to be accepted into Law School. I vividly remember speaking with my school career teacher and them lecturing me on time management and offering great examples of how to get my work done to a great standard but also still have time to focus and dedicate my time to train for competitions such as the All-Irelands and Worlds.  Read more>>