One Story • One Step • One Question. Three minutes.
One Story
She went to Peru to help on a playground, not to teach. Second year of university behind her, from a family of teachers, feeling like she owed the profession a try before she picked something else. Two months to sort what came next. Family therapy, counseling, coaching, teaching. She put all four ideas about her future on her volunteer application.
The kids on that playground had almost nothing. She hadn’t expected how much of her attention they’d take, or how little she’d want it back.
One hot afternoon a ball came off a child’s foot and somebody yelled “¡Cuidado!” She turned her head half a second too late. Left eye, full contact. A shiner visible throughout the entire playground.
Our partner in Peru sent us a photo to explain what happened. We texted our volunteer. “No big deal, I’m ok,” was the reply. Except that my telephone was ringing. Someone sent the exact same image to her mom.
I was at lunch waiting on my usual Friday lobster roll. Mom got patched through to my cell, and I spent the next twenty minutes explaining a black eye while the roll went cold on the table.
Later we laughed about it. Back then? Not funny.
Oh yeah. Those four boxes I mentioned above? She’s a pediatrician.
One Step
Write down the thing you think you're supposed to do. Then go do something close to it, somewhere the stakes are real, and watch what actually holds your attention when nobody's grading you on it. She checked four boxes: family therapy, counseling, coaching, teaching. Pediatrics wasn't one of them. It showed up on a playground in Peru, in the kids who had almost nothing and needed her anyway.
You don't find the fifth box by thinking harder about the first four. You find it by standing somewhere new and noticing what you can't stop watching.
One Question
What are you doing right now because you think you should, and what would you notice about yourself if you did it somewhere the need was real instead of theoretical?
— Randy
I’ve spent fifty years in international education and cultural exchange — a front-row seat to people changing careers, countries, and lives. If you’re putting together a panel, a podcast, or a story and want a voice from the field, just reply. Replies come straight to me, and I read every one.