Menu
If you can get a teen leader in each sector of a student population, you can pull people in. Everybody wants to get involved, but most are too afraid. When they see a person they think is cool leading it, they’re first to join.
The most important role models should and could be parents and teachers. But that said, once you’re a teenager you’ve probably gotten as much of an example from your parents as you’re going to.
I was on Oprah’s show recently talking about the people who impacted me the most. One was a teacher and one was my soccer coach. I didn’t even go into my family, who had the most influence.
I’d never been a teacher before, and here I was starting my first day with these eager students. There was a shortage of teachers, and they had been without a math teacher for six months. They were so excited to learn math.
Unfortunately, there are so many people who live their whole life in a place that is safe and protected and simple and they don’t really have that strength inside to fly.
Winning isn’t everything, but playing and competing and striving and going through things can be a lot of fun and really important. As long as you’re doing it in a way that’s healthy, sports can be an incredible opportunity.
The biggest lesson from Africa was that life’s joys come mostly from relationships and friendships, not from material things. I saw time and again how much fun Africans had with their families and friends and on the sports fields they laughed all the time.
With my new venture, Club Mom, we want to empower moms to feel their value and also build their collective power to make their lives better and easier. We want to bring them together as a community to share experiences and information.
There are 80 million moms in the United States. Forty million stay at home with their children.
I have amazing friends who have led inspirational lives.