About five years ago, a colleague in the National Speakers Association asked me why I do what I do. I gave him the answers most educators would give. He said, "that's not an explanation of why you are so passionate. What is the REAL reason you do what you do?" It took a moment, but I started to get what he was asking. He wanted to know what sparked my passion to serve students and parents in the college process. I confess that I was not sure myself. Sometimes, you have to dig deep to figure out why you do what you do. In my case, my passion for education happened some time between second grade and my own journey to college. As I thought about how I got from second grade to where I am, I realized that my own early barriers to getting the best education created my passion to help others do the same. The revelations of digging deep resulted in the lead story in a collection of true tales of courage with a twist by my eight awecome co-authors: Gutsy Tales Off the Rails published August 25, 2018 by KWE Press and available now on Amazon.com Any parent who has ever been discouraged by advice about their child will enjoy this amusing and inspiring story about the importance of encouragement and courage in student success. |