Those pivotal moments in life that can change you forever and how someone in authority can make or break your future – A friend and I were talking about them and it always makes me think of my 7th-grade teacher.

I signed up to learn Spanish and I was really excited about it.

Now, this was my second year of 7th grade. I failed my first year because I had been uninterested in school, and I was hanging out with a bad crowd. Once I was failed, I was devastated and had decided to make changes in my life.

Signing up for Spanish was one way to get me excited, and I thought it was perfect. The problem was, the Spanish teacher had been my teacher for Texas History in my first year of 7th grade. And I HATED Texas History.

She called me into her office and closed the door. I can still remember her chiseled features, stern face, and short blond hair.

“Sonja, I see you’ve applied to take Spanish this year. We need to change that. You’re not smart enough to learn a language and I don’t want you wasting your time.”

That’s all I remember from that conversation. I think I tried to convince her I could do it, but she wouldn’t listen. Looking back, I think it my decision to make, but she made it sound like it was her decision. So I dropped Spanish from my classes.

The Road to Recovery

I believed her so much that it wasn’t until College, when a language was required, that I signed up for one. Did I take Spanish? Nope. Because I was still stinging from the idea I couldn’t learn it.

I signed up for French. And you know what, I did pretty good. In fact, from that second year of 7th grade and on, I became a good student and I was getting As in my college courses.

Then, I traveled to South & Central America with my best friend. We learned some Spanish before leaving by using Duolingo. We learned enough to get us by and more importantly when a bus driver stopped in the middle of nowhere and said in Spanish “The two girls who paid for horses the rest of the way, this is your stop.” – we totally understood.

Seven weeks later I was speaking rudimentary Spanish and I was so excited when I had a conversation with a store owner about fashion.

So I’m here to tell you to look back at the pivotal moments in life, imagine yourself telling that person that they are wrong, that you can do it.

Because no one can actually know what you can and can’t do except you! ❤️