I learned something really early from my family: Even the biggest challenges are less1when you solve them as a community.
My brother, sister and cousins were my first group. 2 we got more fights at home, we never 3 that outside our house, if you messed with one of us, you got 4 of us.
From school to sports, I was 5 in a class project, club, team or group. From speech and debate to field hockey, when I was in a community, I felt 6 to try for things that seemed 7. I grew because others pushed me. 8 didn't seem so scary because we were taking risks together.
When a drunk driver killed my father, it was our community that9. It was our family friends, our community theater and our sports teams that stood 10us. My father had been a high school history teacher, and his colleagues—now my teachers—began to keep a 11 eye on us because he 12 could.
I don't 13 a parent's death as the way to learn about the 14 of small communities, but it did make me 15 that. If I looked for bigger challenges with the support of a group, I was going to 16 broader goals and build deeper relationships 17 the journey.
As I sit here tonight with my team of five, I'm 18of how much I love these moments—building19 we believe in, that we'll learn from and that we'll do together.
If you are going to do something that terrifies you, first find a20.
