As I think about what inspires me, it’s hard to name just one person or experience. Personally, I’m inspired by my family that supports my goals and dreams, as well as friends who encourage and take risks of their own. Educationally, I’ve had multiple professors who impacted my decisions for study and what would become my post-college career path. Professionally, I’ve been inspired by peers, managers, directors, and CEOs. With each person and experience in life, I am inspired to be a better me and achieve something greater that I did the day before. It’s called inspiration, day by day.
The past two and a half years, I’ve been inspired greatly by a dear friend. A friend who walked away from a stable teaching job where she has made an impact each and every day in the lives of young children for an opportunity to challenge herself to do greater things. After teaching special education in Georgia for six years, she ventured to Suriname, South America to teach with a global organization.
Facing the challenges of a new culture, a new language, and a new classroom filled with students who had a new teacher, she embraced each day to learn something new and ensure that the children in her classroom felt loved while receiving instruction to help them achieve a brighter future. After the first year, she was transferred to a school in Lima, Peru, and continues to touch the lives of children each day while facing language and cultural barriers, while dealing with the challenge of missing home and the familiar.
Though she faces challenges, I have watched my friend grow and heard stories of great achievements in the lives of her students that inspire me to impact those that I work and interact with daily. Embracing the unfamiliar and accepting the challenge to learn something new are just the beginning of being inspired by your own achievements. And you never know who may be watching, each and every day.
— Katie Walls, SYNNEX Marketing Analyst
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