A Challenge to Stay True to Myself

Sometimes we are faced with decisions, both small and large, that challenge us to stay true to ourselves.


The other week, my team and I were setting up for a student event at a college. About an hour before we were to start, the dean of students came up to me and let me know that many of the professors weren't going to come to the assembly because "they don't like to get up on stage and do that dancing thing you do." She then went on to ask me if I could skip that part of my program today at the professors' request.


I thought hard about this request for a moment and almost acquiesced. But then I realized that if I talk to people, day in and day out, about having conviction, about being true to our beliefs, about living out OUR purpose daily, then I had to walk the walk.


So when the time came in my program to recognize the professors and administrators, I had my team pump up the music and I called the professors to the stage. I made sure to let them all know, however, that participation was voluntary. And although there were a handful of professors in the back of the room who didn't come up to the stage, most did come up.


They came to the stage and they danced. And they smiled and they laughed. Likewise, the students in the audience cheered, and thanked them, and smiled and laughed as well... some even got up and danced right in their seats.


And in this moment I was reminded of the WHY of what I do. See, it's not only about recognizing those adults who so often go without recognition - the teachers, administrators, support staff at the schools I visit. It's also about reminding the students in the audience that we adults are human - that we can get up and dance and smile and laugh at ourselves. It gives us a chance to show our students that sometimes we have to get over our own fears and embarasments.


Because at the end of the day, we have a job to do. And often times, that job becomes just a little bit easier when we can lessen the distance between ourselves and the young people we serve.


It's something I firmly belive in. And on that day I was reminded that sometimes standing up for what I know works, even in the face of opposition, is - more ofen than not - the right choice to make. So as all the adults left the stage to Mariah Carey's "Hero," I smiled a little larger than usual, I think. Because in staying true to myself, I really was walking the walk. And at the end of the day, that's as important to me as almost anything.