I’ll never forget the day my junior high science teacher pulled me aside in the hall and locked eyes with me. I knew this was serious. Today’s vernacular would call it an intervention. She told me I had tremendous talent and I was wasting it all away because I was making the wrong choices. She suggested I activate my leadership talent by running for student council. I didn’t even know I had leadership talent. That conversation was a pivotal point in my life. (Once I finished trembling!)
She recognized something in me I didn’t see in myself. I ran for office — and won. From there, I learned more about leadership and it propelled me into what I’ve continued to pursue throughout life. But it wasn’t the political career she dreamed of for me.