How your past shapes your future.
I was principal at an elementary school that was robbed back in 2013. For 13 years now, I have been doing Victims Impact Panels for the Montana Department of Corrections. Probably have done 75-100 of them. Part of the process is the offenders writing letters to the speakers afterwards. I’ve always valued these as you hope you make an impact. These are a few from a talk I did last week. As a kid, enduring continuous physical abuse from an older brother, I would wonder why I was going through it. Had times I wanted to end it all to make it stop. Part of the survival of all that shaped me as an educator and school administrator. I was and am anti-bully. Did a TedTalk on it. But it also shaped my response to this crime. I share that with the offenders. You never know how your experiences, good and bad, can shape your future. I’m now a certified suicide awareness speaker and so leadership and mental wellness trainings across the US, Canada, and elsewhere. One of my favorite say...