Maybe the most important part of the maturation process 
between adolescence and early adulthood is figuring out what you want to do with the rest of your life. Some of us are fortunate enough to find the answer to this question relatively early in our existence, either through an inherited family business or trade, or the emergence of an innate and unique talent.
Entering my sophomore year of high school, I found myself trying to solve this very mystery. I knew that I wanted to go to college and further my education, but I wasn’t exactly sure what that meant.
At some point during the year, my math teacher, Mrs. Stephens, invited her husband to our class to talk about his profession and what prompted him to venture into that particular vocation. He’d received his Bachelor’s in Accounting, followed by a Master’s in Business Management, and staked out a career as an accountant/consultant for small business owners.
I’m not quite sure if it was what Mr. Stephens said that day or how he said it. I only remember being incredibly captivated by the picture he so eloquently painted. He made the seemingly mundane world of crunching numbers come alive in a way that I’d never envisioned before, and while I’d always been adept at math, I never truly considered a career centered around it until that point.
I left Mrs. Stephens’ class that afternoon with a brand new beacon of light illuminating the path toward my future.
“Regardless what I get my first degree in,” I said to myself, “I’m going to get a second one, and help people solve problems like Mr. Stevens does.”
Meanwhile, during that same school year, I received an invitation to join the school newspaper staff from Mrs. Fleming, my journalism teacher. She’d always been very complimentary of my work on written assignments for her class, so it didn’t take much convincing to get me to sign on.
Joining the school paper ended up being one of the best decisions I’d ever made. Seeing my name in print sent my self-confidence through the roof. With Mrs. Fleming’s guidance, the floodgates to my passion for writing were opened indefinitely. I absolutely loved it, and made sure I was on the newspaper staff every year for the rest of my scholastic career through college.
To this day, I both remember and cherish the profound impact and influence that each of these adults had on me. They were not parents or family members, but they were excellent role models for an impressionable young woman looking to make her mark in the world.
I would go on to pursue my Bachelor’s degree in Accounting at Dillard University (with a minor in English), and get my MBA from the University of Michigan. Neither Mr. Stephens nor Mrs. Fleming probably have any idea the impact that their words of wisdom and encouragement had on me, but they’re a significant part of the reason that I am where I am today.
With that in mind, as school ramps back up for your kids (or maybe even yourself), my advice is to understand the importance of having a mentor or guide that sees the “shine” in you. Likewise, if you’re ever given the opportunity to participate in career day at a school…SHOW UP! You never know what teenage kid is sitting in a classroom looking for inspiration. When people who aren’t required to have any vested interest in you or your success tell you that they believe in you, the realm of possibility truly opens up in breath-taking fashion.
