Sarah Noel Graduation

Throughout the years, I have had the benefit of having great mentors in my life. This made it easy for me to decide that I want to become a mentor to others. One of the organizations of which I am a member and act as a mentor, is the ITWomen organization. This group raises scholarship funds for young women pursuing careers in the STEM (Science, Technology, Engineering and Mathematics) arena; provide networking opportunity for women in technology; and also mentors young women (and some men) in these areas.

At one of the schools that I visited to share the ins and outs of college life with the students, I met Sarah Noel. The first time I saw her, she had a copy of Les Miserable in her hand. I asked her if she had to read it for a class. She replied “No. I wanted to read it for myself. I like to read.” I immediately told her that I know she will be a great leader one day…great leaders like to read as well. That was over two years ago. Sarah and I have kept in contact with each other due to our kindred spirits in seeking to help others.

This past week she shared the picture of her in her cap and gown as she prepares to graduate from high school and continue her education at undergraduate level. The joy that I feel in seeing her picture gives me such hope for her future success. The amazing thing about my interaction with Sarah is that as I encouraged, mentored and shared with her my experiences; Sarah was opening my eyes to the wonders of believing and pursuing one’s dreams.

As adults sometimes the busyness of life causes us to push aside our dreams and aspirations. Mentoring Sarah and others like her helps me to keep my focus on my dreams. Thank you Sarah for giving me the opportunity to serve you and in the process develop myself as well. I know you are focused on living a Diamond Life, a Life of Purpose!

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I remember that I first fell in love with math when my Aunt Peggy taught me long division versus short division at the age of eight. I was so excited to be able to figure out the problems that I would try to see how fast I could solve a problem. In ninth grade, Mr. De La Vecchia introduced me to Algebra. My happiness sensory went into overload. Figuring out a+b=c or learning polynomials was so exciting for me!

Then there are sciences. I couldn’t wait to get to Mr. Wolfe’s class to see the next Physics demo or in my chemistry class to turn on the Bunsen burner to perform another experiment. I think I liked these two subjects, because mathematics was involved. It shouldn’t be a surprise that in my career I ended up using mathematics in all of the jobs I held in telecommunications. As a sales engineer, I had to determine how many IP addresses a client may need for the companies data network. I had to become certified in the design of networks via the Cisco certification process.

The part I love most about studying for my exams involved understanding binary codes and subnet masking. Learning about ASCII, ANSI, Hex, etc. codes was thrilling to me. I would engross myself into converting binary codes to IP addresses and back for hours! Knowing that as the IP 192.168.0.0 and is the beginning of a “C” class private IP address, sent my mind into happy land overdrive. Most of my girlfriends taught I was “nuts” of course. They couldn’t imagine I would give up my weekend to read a technical book.

I also love music because of math. There are eight notes that when rearranged make great melodies, but I see them in mathematical combination instead of arrangements or scores.  When I learned to dance the waltz or other types of dances, I was usually counting 1-2-3, 1-2-3 or 1-2-3-4. Again math came to my rescue.

Fear not, guys and dolls. I’m not totally geeky. I get the same happy feeling when I enter Home Depot or Lowes, and I walk in the power tool aisle only to see a Dewalt Cordless 18V Hammerdrill with double battery pack on sale for $100. I love power tools. Or when I walk into Macys and see a pair of shoes on sale, marked down from $120 to $20! Shucks it doesn’t even have to be Macy’s, any pair of shoes on sales anywhere gives me the same happy feelings I have for math.

Next time you are out and about, think about the great things mathematics and science has brought us. You may have a new appreciation for these two awesome subjects. I didn’t like learning English subject much or writing an essay, but I have grown to love words and how beautiful they are when used to express my love of people, places, things, mathematics and science.

Live a Diamond Life! Live a Life of Purpose!

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