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< Back Allison's Story 00:00 / 03:53 Previous Next

< Back Rob's Story Rob talks with Moeen about a life changing summer when he was 19 years old. 00:00 / 04:10 Previous Next

Spring 2023 Stories Amira's Story Listen to Amira talk about her experience finding a home at UMass. In her story, Amira shares the struggles of connecting at UMass and how sitting in RSO room on campus started to become more than just a place to do work but somewhere she met people who have become her close friends. Listen Candace's Story Come listen to Candace’s story about her experience afinding her partner Gary and moving to Peru and living abroad. Through her story, Candace reflects on how living abroad allowed her to break free from her past and go on the adventure she had always wanted when she was little. Listen Carol's Story Carol talks about her experience traveling to Europe her junior year of college after realizing that she needs to go out of her comfort zone. With support from her friend and her parents, this trip changes her perspective on the kind of person she wants to strive to be, for her career but mostly for herself. The European mindset is what influences her to do things that make herself feel whole like slowing down her day with journaling and yoga. This trip has inspired her to travel for nursing and even ignite the courage to solo trip alone someday. Listen David's Story David talks about his experience with coming out during the 70s and 80s to his parents and how people’s perceptions of what it means to be gay was different then compared to today. He also talks about what it was like to finally be able to marry his partner Todd and what that meant to him. Listen Diane's Story Diane talks about how her goals and ambitions are constantly changing throughout our lives. Diane and Victoria discuss how they have changed throughout lives, and what has remained constant. The common thread for both women is their strong mothers. Listen Francesca's Story Follow Francesca as she shares her spiritual journey as a follower of Saint Francis of Assisi, inspiring her devotion to uplifting others around her while spreading love. Listen Freeman's Story Freeman remarks on his decision to retire and how retiring has allowed him to grow as a person and start new things after his career. He later elaborates on the ultimate goals and appreciations he has for his life and his message for others when considering the path of their own life: “think of the long ride, not the short journey.” Listen Gail's Story Listen Ivana's Story Ivana shares a vulnerable story about her battle with anxiety and depression as a young adult in high school. She talks about how her experiences have influenced who she is today and memorializes this struggle with a tattoo on her back. Listen Jake's Story Jake reflects on two similar scenarios he has encountered with bees and how that has made him realize the power of one’s own mindset when it comes to handling situations differently. He talks about how he keeps a positive mindset which has translated into looking at things in a more gratifying way and spreading positivity in other aspects of his life. Listen Janet's Story Janet gives voice to her late older brother Jay and recalls the significant impact he has had on her early life and professional career despite struggling in his adolescence and growing up in a time where it was unlawful to be self assured about your homosexuality. This is a story about love and loss but touching upon hope in freedom of self expression in culture today. Listen Joan's Story Listen to Joan as she talks about her Auntie Delly and the role her Aunt played in shaping Joan's life in the past and the present. Listen Jonathan Daube's Story Listen Jonathan's Story Jonathan shares his special connection with his family and how they have been a major influence in his life, from his brothers to his mom and dad. He touches upon his love for his parents supporting him through sports and making sure he was reaching his fullest potential growing up. With deep gratitude for his mother and everything she had overcome in her early life, he expresses the kind of person and a great appreciation of who she is. Listen Josh's Story Josh shares his dedication and identity to football at college and wanting to succeed in his athletic career, only to realize that it was taking him away from his academics. When Covid hit, which was brought with a year spent at home, he decided to change his focus from football towards his studies on Public Health. Leaving your past self may be hard, but it’s the sacrifice to limitless possibilities and realizing . Listen Kaela's Story Kaela expresses how running has been a fundamental part of her life since she was younger but has really unfolded for her as she was in high school and college to something she really loves to do. Over the years, her relationship with running and the community she has formed with it has grown into something that holds a special place for her to continue wherever she ends up in the future. Listen Kathleen Becker's Story Kathleen describes her path to becoming a speech pathologist. She describes her experience growing up with her younger sister Margaret Mary who was born with cerebral palsy. As a child she tried to find ways to help her sister learn to speak. Later, she took her first speech pathology course in college, and went on to work in a private practice and at an elementary school. Listen Kathleen Bowen's Story Kathleen talks about changes and how her perspective of age and learning has changed over time through her own experience with getting older. Listen Norma's Story Norma talks about how she found herself in the later stages of life identifying with something new- being an athlete. She talks about the skills she has acquired through this sport apply on the water and in her personal life as well. Listen to Norma’s journey to discovering one of her new passions of whitewater kayaking. Listen Olivia's Story Listen to hear Olivia share her experience taking a gap year after highschool and traveling overseas with a program called ARCC Gap Year. Listen Owen's Story Owen talks about his decision to go to college as a way to avoid the Vietnam War. He talks about how this experience exposed him to a whole new demographic of people and allowed him to see people for who they were as opposed to the stereotypes they had been socialized to believe. Education served as a bridge across cultures, creating the ability to connect with people of all backgrounds. Listen Rick's Story Rick talks about his parents and how they were his lighthouses growing up. Specifically, he focuses on how a moment with his father in the hospital has guided his view on the meaning of life. Listen Sunny's Story Sunny shares a story about how her relationship with the fine arts has developed and strengthened over the course of her life. She has a passion for art that follows her everywhere. Listen

< Back Jack's Story Jack reflects on his transition from high school to college and how this shaped his understanding of friendships, self-worth, and belonging. From not fitting into a rugby team and struggling to find genuine people around him, a wake-up call and a new friend led him to understand his self-worth, connect back with a true friend, and carry those lessons along with him, this time with good people around him. 00:00 / 05:30 Previous Next

< Back Ralph's Story, 2025 Ralph reflects on how his understanding of “home” evolved from a physical house to something much deeper and more expansive. While his house feels like home through safety, creativity, and memories, he realize that home is also found in meaningful human connections, whether on a subway, in a restaurant abroad, or within a close-knit community. Through these experiences, he came to see home as something he carry within himself, shaped by relationships, kindness, and shared moments. Ultimately, home is not a single place, but a feeling rooted in connection and belonging. 00:00 / 03:32 My first incarnation was to think about a house as a home. But then I realized that was only a small part of what home might be. So then I had to ask myself: what turns a house into a home? First thing I thought of was the obvious: where I feel safe from the elements, safe from physical harm, safe to express who I am, and safe to love and be loved. My house is my home, but why is it? I feel I have several hundred, if not thousands, of homes. Well, the house I live in, well, I'm an artist, oil painter, to be exact, with the studio in the house, where I struggle to express thoughts in paint and charcoal. That's the one thing that makes the house my home. It's also where I play, cooking, gardening, even cleaning. But those are the tangible elements. But what keeps me here, hopefully till I die, are all the memories:the good, the bad, the ugly. So this place isn't just a home, it's me. I feel at home on the New York City subways, which I don't know how many people can say that. But why do I say I feel at home there? Well, it's the people. My wife and I ride the subways all over the city. When we get on, it's usually pretty much standing room only. And that's when the magic happens. Someone will notice Mary Ann standing. Then they get up, indicate she should take their seat. They smile, she smiles. And that's if I can, I come over to them and thank them and mention that they're making it hard for me by setting such good examples. You know, at which point, they usually look me up and down and laugh, cause they know I'm right. It's strange because I was thinking about all the places I feel at home and really feel comfortable in strange ways. And there are an awful lot. We had been to Florence several times. Once we went to visit our daughter while she was studying Italian. We went to take her out to dinner to what turned out to be a very popular restaurant with the line going halfway down the block. Despite this, we decided to cross the street and just take a peek inside. We got halfway across the street when the individual taking reservations spotted us, more accurately, my daughter. He meets us in the middle of the street and announces to the waiting patrons, “For you, I have a table now.” We were ushered in and given the table overlooking the entire dining room; we never looked back at the waiting line. Then there's a small village in San Odell where I was taught the true meaning of family. I just live with what they taught me. That's all I can say because I'd have to go on for hours. Two or three days ago, I'm coming back from a walk and about to go down my driveway when I hear two of the children on the block yelling my name. Realizing it's a race between brother and sister, I hold out my arms to indicate the finishing line. The little brother won, big sister is a gem. Little brother leaves drawings in our mailbox and closes the lids on our garbage cans. They are so special. And if it's not obvious, the street is also my home So, Summer, as you may have guessed, you are now part of my home since it seems I actually carry my home around in my head. And I closed with, “Home is where the heart is. Who knew it was in my head all these years?” Previous Next

Freeman remarks on his decision to retire and how retiring has allowed him to grow as a person and start new things after his career. He later elaborates on the ultimate goals and appreciations he has for his life and his message for others when considering the path of their own life: “think of the long ride, not the short journey.” Freeman's Story Freeman remarks on his decision to retire and how retiring has allowed him to grow as a person and start new things after his career. He later elaborates on the ultimate goals and appreciations he has for his life and his message for others when considering the path of their own life: “think of the long ride, not the short journey.” Freeman's Story 00:00 / 04:39 I’ve been retired amazingly since 2013. It was really easy for me, I mean the part that was. First of all, I was really ready to retire. I turned 65. I was going to retire. Principal asked if I would stay another year just to help with transition. I was happy to do that. But I knew that I wanted to do other things. I loved what I was doing. I loved the students. Great way to end my career. But I was ready. I wanted to try other things because my father died at the age I am now. You know you never know how long you have. I was healthy and I wanted to take advantage of that. So fortunately as a teacher in a public school you have a pension. And that made it possible for me to retire. It was easy, and I had a long list of things that I wanted to do. So I started to study Yiddish. I started to teach myself guitar. I started playing chess. I started playing tennis indoors which I had never done before. And I was doing some consulting. So I was plenty busy and I joined the Northampton Arts Council, cause I wanted to contribute to the community in which I lived, not just the community which I had previously worked. And when I was looking at possibilities and things to volunteer for, I was looking at different committees and councils. I noticed that the head of the arts and culture department was a guy named Brian Foot and Brian Foot was a student that I had when I was teaching at Chestnut Middle School in Springfield in the 6th grade. And so that made it even more appealing to get to connect with Brian who was a wonderful young man in 6th grade and now has contributed a great deal to Northampton Arts Scene. It was good to be a part of that for a few years. I am still doing similar kinds of work because I joined an organization called Friends of Northampton Trails and part of the work that we are doing is to promote arts in the neighborhoods in Northampton so that feels good. Right now, I am the secretary, so one of the things I do is take minutes which in some ways is a good thing because taking minutes at least for me means I can’t talk as much so I have to listen better. So that always is a good thing to practice. What I am aware of is that this is a good time for me to spend more time listening. You know I think the most important thing is just being more attentive to what’s around me. Just having an awareness of my environment and not always being active but sometimes just being an observer, just appreciating, just being able to slow down instead of waking up at 5:45 and getting to work by 6:30 or just living more slowly. Looking at the news, playing chess puzzles, and then being able to just have the days evolve. You know that’s such a privilege to be able to do that. And really of all the things that upset me, the fact that I am aware that so many people don’t have this. And I have health, you know so. Being healthy. Having a loving partner. Having loving children who want to be involved in our lives. There’s not that much that I really need. You know I am one of the fortunate people, I mean its crazy that people who are not wealthy, like we are not wealthy, but I have, I had a pension. Its crazy that people don’t have that, and can live a reasonable life. I can’t do whatever I want. I can’t travel the world. I can’t buy anything I want, but I don’t need any of that. I’m fine. And life can be good. You know, I mean I think in times like this when the world seems to be spiraling in so many different crazy ways, its good to know that not everything is damaged. And that the most important thing is being able to expand the number of people who experience that. To live a good life, a quality of life where you are not just working. Life should not be just about work. I mean that’s not what we are here for to do. It’s about caring for each other you know and appreciating the diversity around you. And I am one of the lucky people who have been able to get to that point. And I hope that I can be able to continue it. For me the intention is, is good things ahead. Just take care of yourself. Think of the long ride, not the short journey. Previous Next

< Back Miriam's Story Miriam describes her experience studying the Hutterite community. She reflects on their sense of community and how it has been shown in her own life. 00:00 / 05:21 When I graduated from college, which is just where you are, I was able to know about and to actually, in that summer afterwards, go to study the Hutterites. The Hutterites and live communally. But what it means to live communally is that you're not really looking at what a lot of psychology looks at, which is sort of an individual lifespan, or tradition or whatever, of self, self, self. But these are people who live in a rural area, in a farming in the Midwest or in Canada, who came from east from Europe, decades go. This is a an agrarian farm thing. And these people learned from childhood there were a few people who moved into these communities but they've had plenty of children an average of 10 to 12 children, per family. Yeah. And I was amazed by how the world can be so different if you're living in a situation where you don't have money. Nobody has things. No, you don't own a house. This there's a car. But that's because the man who was in charge of the the farming things, he has to go to town and buy some equipment that can't be made, but the shoemaker lived there, and the people who made their clothes lived there. And there was a use of health care that people thought it was necessary. Nobody lived in individual house, nobody had their own fancy kitchens, everybody ate, breakfast, lunch, dinner together. Everybody went to school, but not outside, of course, they had their own teachers, they had their own churches, and they had their own process. Everybody went to church. Everybody wore the shoes that were made there. And everybody saw themselves as very much like the others. There were, there was a family or a couple who belong to the community, and they left. And that was a terrible thing for that community. Wow. Nobody ever left these communities. Right. Right. 2:49 Do you think it helped them in a way to have this really, really intense sense of community? Or did it almost become like a, like a total lack of individualism? 3:01 That's a very difficult question. Right. Right. I think that is the basic question. 3:07 In the United States, there's been sort of this push for, like, sort of extreme individualism, and it's sort of like, you rely on yourself, you get your toes, and that's, that's kinda like, where the line is drawn. We lost a sense of community in a lot of places, I think. So I wonder how we can find that happy medium, sort of where it's like, you still like feel like your own person, and you have this autonomy, but to still feel grounded in your community, you know what I mean? 3:34 In fact, have a probably 30/40 years ago now, there were villages where older people were able to sort of join together and support each other. Because they were they really want to live in a nursing home. There's nothing about a nursing home that is desirable. And they've started it here five years ago, called Northampton neighbors, but it was for older people who and that's how come I happen to be sitting here with you. 4:10 Yes, yeah, exactly. 4:13 Could join together in some ways, but have the kind of autonomy and world of their very special interests, and biases and skills and so forth. And it has worked. Right? Right has worked amazingly well. So anybody could call and say, Ah, is it possible that somebody could get me to the doctor, you know, supposed to snow on Wednesday, and there'll be somebody who would volunteer to take the person. Previous Next

< Back Elsa's Story Elsa reflects on the lasting impact of her grandfather, who was known for his kindness, empathy, and ability to make everyone feel truly seen and valued. Rather than specific memories, what stands out most is how he made people feel and how he carried that warmth into all his relationships. After his passing, Elsa grew to appreciate him even more through shared stories and the community he touched. Inspired by his legacy, she hopes to carry forward his spirit by creating that same sense of belonging and care for others. 00:00 / 04:08 My grandfather's name was Sumner Savadman, but we called him “Bipa”. He was always our Bipa. Um, he passed in October 2021 when I was a freshman in college. I don't remember specific stories about him, but I remember, like, how he made you feel, and how he made you feel like you were always, like, welcomed and always, like, he was so kind and genuinely, like, wanted to know how your day was. Like a lot of people ask, like, “Oh, like, you know, how's it going? How are you?” But he genuinely really wanted to know and would give you his full attention to, um, what you had to say in, in about your life. He, um, was very empathetic and caring. And even if it wasn't even just towards, like, his family, it was towards, like, everybody that he knew. He just made them feel like they were welcomed and wanted to, you know, get to know them. And he did this throughout his entire life. When my grandparents retired, they went on, like, a bunch travels and traveled around the world and everything like that. But they, like, met friends in every single place that they knew. They, um, would even, like, invite them, like, back, like, to the US. They were, like, in Australia, and they were talking with, like, their tour guide and some of their other friends, and they came and, like, visited them on Cape Cod down the Cape. He was always very calm and gentle, and just being, like, meet you where you were and, you know, figure out things with you and how he could help you in any way that he could. But, you know along those things, he also had his subtle dry humor. He would always, you know, never make fun of people. He never wanted to talk badly about people or never, you know, said an unkind thing about anyone, really. Um, he would always just have his subtle dry humor and brighten other people's days. Um, he's also a big coach. Another big thing about him was it the, was sports. He loves sports. From when I remember him best is I would, like, come up the stairs of, like, their loft, and he would just be sitting there with his goldfish next to him and, like, the big box of it, he's just sitting there eating and watching the Red Sox game or watching the Celtics or anything like that. He had a blanket for every single, like, Boston sports team, and we still have them to this day. I don't really remember the story exactly, but basically he was, like, really good at baseball, and he was asked to be on one of the major league teams, but he was like, “Uh, like sounds amazing, but I have to support my family and I'm gonna go, you know be this engineer over here in Ohio.” He always put his family first. He always wanted us to feel welcomed, but he truly cared about other people, too. He's one of a kind. I think there were so many, like, kind qualities about him. And when he passed, we had his Celebration of Life. It really brought the community people together, and everybody really shared how much love he had for other people and how much he really made them feel. It's not really about, you know the specific memories or specific things that he did. It was more, you know, the general feeling and appreciation that you had for other people. So I think, as I, you know, move forward in my life, I wanna do those same things and meet and, you know, make people feel like they have a space and they have, you know, a place. I never really, like, thought about, like, my relationship with him before that. It only wasn’t until after he passed that I really was like, “Oh, like, this was my grandfather.” I guess I never really thought much about it because I was like 18, and I was just doing my own thing, living my own life. And then it wasn't really until – I’m 22 now. And I've learned more things about him every single time that we talk about him. Every single time that we talk about him, it's a new story. It's a new feeling that he gave somebody. It's a new, you know, experience. I feel like even after he's passed, I've grown more close to him because I really cherished the person that he was. Previous Next

< Back Charlie's Story, 2021 Charlie reflects on how he values his experiences with people who he met through his jobs throughout the course of his life. 00:00 / 03:34 Charlie: But the thing that life has taught me is that life is about people. So, everything you do is an opportunity to meet someone. And I've never met anyone who didn't have something to offer. Some more than others. I don't know that I met anyone who had a dramatic effect on my life's path. But because of my role as a newspaper publisher, I got to meet lots of folks, people who were extraordinary people and some of them were presidents of colleges in the valley of five college communities. One of my favorites was Mary Maples down at Smith College, who I would work with. But she was just wonderful to get to know and to work with. At one point I was talking with somebody at and I don't know a meeting at the newspaper and we were talking about going fishing and she said, “what about me? Aren't you gonna take me?” And so in those days I flew with a small plane and we flew down the road island, got on a boat and went out and fished and my deal was I had to deliver her, she had to speak at an alumni group in New York city. So I had to drop her off from New York on my way home. So she was very special. But wherever you are people, as I say, I've never met somebody who didn't have something to offer and whether it's somebody driving a cab or doesn't make any difference. You know, you meet important people and not so important people. And one of my favorite important people stories has to do with Silvio Conte, who was a representative in Washington from this area. I got to know him through the newspaper and I would go to him for things that needed to be done in Washington. I would lobby him, for instance, when I was at the local hospital board, I would ask him to try and be helpful to the hospital. And he called me one day. He says “I helped you. I want you to help me.” And I said, “what?” He said, “my daughter lives here in Washington who works here, and it breaks my heart because she has this wonderful dog. But the dog sits in an apartment all day long and I'm trying to get her to get rid of the dog.” So my wife Kelly and I flew down to Washington, picked up the Brittany spaniel and his daughter would come and visit from time to time. So we had the best of both worlds. The key for me has always been you get far more out of helping people than the time and energy that it takes. So it's a win-win situation. Previous Next

< Back Freeman's Story Freeman remarks on his decision to retire and how retiring has allowed him to grow as a person and start new things after his career. He later elaborates on the ultimate goals and appreciations he has for his life and his message for others when considering the path of their own life: “think of the long ride, not the short journey.” 00:00 / 04:39 I’ve been retired amazingly since 2013. It was really easy for me, I mean the part that was. First of all, I was really ready to retire. I turned 65. I was going to retire. Principal asked if I would stay another year just to help with transition. I was happy to do that. But I knew that I wanted to do other things. I loved what I was doing. I loved the students. Great way to end my career. But I was ready. I wanted to try other things because my father died at the age I am now. You know you never know how long you have. I was healthy and I wanted to take advantage of that. So fortunately as a teacher in a public school you have a pension. And that made it possible for me to retire. It was easy, and I had a long list of things that I wanted to do. So I started to study Yiddish. I started to teach myself guitar. I started playing chess. I started playing tennis indoors which I had never done before. And I was doing some consulting. So I was plenty busy and I joined the Northampton Arts Council, cause I wanted to contribute to the community in which I lived, not just the community which I had previously worked. And when I was looking at possibilities and things to volunteer for, I was looking at different committees and councils. I noticed that the head of the arts and culture department was a guy named Brian Foot and Brian Foot was a student that I had when I was teaching at Chestnut Middle School in Springfield in the 6th grade. And so that made it even more appealing to get to connect with Brian who was a wonderful young man in 6th grade and now has contributed a great deal to Northampton Arts Scene. It was good to be a part of that for a few years. I am still doing similar kinds of work because I joined an organization called Friends of Northampton Trails and part of the work that we are doing is to promote arts in the neighborhoods in Northampton so that feels good. Right now, I am the secretary, so one of the things I do is take minutes which in some ways is a good thing because taking minutes at least for me means I can’t talk as much so I have to listen better. So that always is a good thing to practice. What I am aware of is that this is a good time for me to spend more time listening. You know I think the most important thing is just being more attentive to what’s around me. Just having an awareness of my environment and not always being active but sometimes just being an observer, just appreciating, just being able to slow down instead of waking up at 5:45 and getting to work by 6:30 or just living more slowly. Looking at the news, playing chess puzzles, and then being able to just have the days evolve. You know that’s such a privilege to be able to do that. And really of all the things that upset me, the fact that I am aware that so many people don’t have this. And I have health, you know so. Being healthy. Having a loving partner. Having loving children who want to be involved in our lives. There’s not that much that I really need. You know I am one of the fortunate people, I mean its crazy that people who are not wealthy, like we are not wealthy, but I have, I had a pension. Its crazy that people don’t have that, and can live a reasonable life. I can’t do whatever I want. I can’t travel the world. I can’t buy anything I want, but I don’t need any of that. I’m fine. And life can be good. You know, I mean I think in times like this when the world seems to be spiraling in so many different crazy ways, its good to know that not everything is damaged. And that the most important thing is being able to expand the number of people who experience that. To live a good life, a quality of life where you are not just working. Life should not be just about work. I mean that’s not what we are here for to do. It’s about caring for each other you know and appreciating the diversity around you. And I am one of the lucky people who have been able to get to that point. And I hope that I can be able to continue it. For me the intention is, is good things ahead. Just take care of yourself. Think of the long ride, not the short journey. Previous Next

< Back Peter's Story 00:00 / 03:31 My name is Peter Nelson. My next question is, what has been a milestone or achievement in your life that you want to be remembered for? Well, probably the number one thing, and a lot of people will say that would be having a child. I mean, I guess that's your legacy, and you're pretty much guaranteed at least one person will remember you. So, I'd say that was that was one. You know? I published a novel, and I published a lot. I've written and published 30 books. And of those 30, I've, you know, some were collaborations. A lot were nonfiction. I wrote four series of young adult books. And so those were fiction, but they weren't really novels. But I did sell one, novel called I Thought You Were Dead about a man with a talking dog. And I because I had this dog named Stella when I moved to town here. And, and it was really, you know, her the loss of her, that made me kinda wanna write this book. But it's about a dog, you know, that can talk, and the dog helps this guy straighten his life out. And they have they have, my I think one of my favorite scenes in that in that book, they're talking about Darwinian evolution and survival of the fittest. And the guy, he's a he's a writer, and he's talking about how wolves are, you know, are the highest evolution of canine behavior. And she said, excuse me. Can you just stop it with all this wolf stuff? Because frankly, I'm a little tired of hearing it. He said, well, you know, they live in more, you know, l you know, complex societies, and they she's let me just ask you a question. Survival of the fittest means that you adapt, and you have behaviors and traits that allow you to procreate, more than people who other species animals that don't have them. He said, yeah. That's it. Alright. How many wolves are there alive in the world today? How many wolves are there? And he says, I don't know. 300,000. And then she says, how many dogs? And he says, 50,000,000. And she says, so which one of us do you think is more evolved? Well, wolf? Yeah. I could wolves could hunt deer. Why would I wanna hunt deer? You just gave me half your pizza. You know? So, they have the arguments like that. And then and then there's a there's a very sad moment, I I warn people, where the dog he's sitting on his porch, and the dog comes up to him and says, it's time. And he says, time for what? She says, you know what I mean. It's time to go to that and to be put down. Because they don't tell you it's time. You have to make that call. But, you know, I so I wrote that book, and I think when I published that, I kinda had this feeling of, okay. I could die. Not like I wanted to, but I could. Like, I've left something lasting and important. And, you know, we're still trying to get it made into a screen clip so that it may not be just over yet. But if it was over yet, I would feel like that's kind of the crowning achievement of my writing life. You know? And Previous Next

< Back Obi's Story Obi discusses the influence of one teacher in his life, and how that teacher influenced not only his future career goals, but also his work ethic. 00:00 / 03:14 Obi: So when I was a kid, gonna say sixth, seventh grade, I was definitely in the wrong crowd. Did not work hard, played too much, skipped classes. It was all slowly accumulating and it really hit seventh grade. Seventh grade is when I stopped caring about school, it was when, um, I was emailing professors - teachers at the time - “How can I bring my F to a C? Or how can I bring my D to a B?” two weeks before the semester ended. So, and I didn’t really think of my future like that. Like if someone asked me, “Where do you see yourself in five years?” I wouldn’t know what to say. Eighth grade hit, the beginning of eighth grade, I had an engineering teacher, named Mr. Dawes. And I really liked engineering class for some reason. It just made sense to me. And, there was one time during lunch, mind you I was in the rambunctious group, you know. So in lunchtime we’d be making noises, you know, throwing stuff, all that stuff. And I was in lunch with my friends, and Mr. Dawes came out of nowhere and was like, “Obi, can I talk to you?” I was like, “Sure, yeah, what’s up?” So he pulled me aside in the hallway and was like, “Obi, if I could be - you want me to be completely honest with you, I could see you as a really great engineer in the future.” And in my mind, I'm like, “Is he serious right now? Like, is he - you’re telling me this?” I come from a place that’s predominantly white and doesn’t really give any second thoughts to African-American kids, other than sports. You know, the only compliments I had growing up was football-related, or sports-related. Never academic. And the other kids that looked like me never had any compliments academics-wise. It was only sports. So this was the first time in a school setting where a teacher approached me and said, “You can do this.” And it wasn’t had to do with sports. It doesn’t have to do with a game I had last weekend. It has to do with academics. So that really changed my perspective on life, honestly. He said, like, “Yo, I want you to be connected with me for the next couple of years, and we can talk about this. I can hook you up with people.” And I’m like - I was starstruck. I was starstruck because a person that’s older than me, who’s not my immediate family, who looks different than me, who’s a teacher in my school, really genuinely thinks I can make it in academics. My life really changed academics-wise to like - I gotta kill it. Not just for myself, but for the people that believed in me. My parents, this engineering teacher, who really took the time and told me - you can do this. So for the past like - for the next two years, I wanted to be an engineer. Like, engineer, engineer, engineer. I don’t care what I’m doing. You know, then I fell in love with biology. And that faith that my engineering teacher instilled in me, it carried on to my new profound love for medicine and my goal to become a doctor. And I’ve been riding that ever since. Of course I’ve found multiple reasons and multiple passions and multiple motives of why I want to become a doctor after that, but that one moment in the lunchroom. That one interaction I had with that engineering teacher, really propelled me to be great in this. Previous Next