I learned something really early from my family: Even the biggest challenges are less 1 when you solve them as a community.
My brother, sister and cousins were my first group. 2 we got more and 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 that 9. It was our family friends, our community theater and our sports teams that stood 10 us. 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 18 of how much I love these moments – building 19 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 a 20.
