College Experiences That Helped a High School Teacher at International School of Aruba Succeed

I did a lot as an undergrad, if I'm honest. I would say I maximized every single moment of my time.

So, what that meant was I always had a job of some sort, whether that was ushering at the theater on campus or working on Capitol Hill. I found opportunities to go abroad. I volunteered abroad in Tanzania after my freshman year. After the year after my sophomore year, I did a campus orientation program.

I was active in a number of student organizations and became a leader in those organizations. I studied really hard and almost never missed class. I got really high grades and graduated in the top 2% of my class.

I took graduate courses as an undergrad because I could. I did a research assistantship because I could. I wrote a 30-something page-long thesis because I could. There was just no opportunity in front of me that I passed on, and I just worked really hard.

By the time I was in my career, I was already very habituated to hard work. Therefore, I was able to kind of stand apart earlier on. Don't get me wrong, I had a lot of fun as an undergrad as well, and I have a ton of fun in my life now.

But I think the lesson is that I didn't waste opportunities when I had the chance. You know, I was working on Capitol Hill, and they were like, "Hey, we need seat fillers for this thing. Do you want to go?" "Yes." And then I go and I'm sitting behind the Vice President.

Who knows what kinds of things can come from that? I'm just very much a person, even in my life now, where if I see an opportunity, whether it's at work, in life, or in my social life, I'm always like, "Yes." I think that has really helped me to create a lot of luck in my life.