The field of education, and even more so, the field of education advocacy, calls people at different times and for different reasons.

I decided I wanted to become a teacher when I was just seven years old. My second-grade teacher believed in me. She saw my reading struggles not as a failure or a lifelong limitation, but simply as a stumbling block we would work through together. That belief…the presence she gave me, the unwavering attitude that I was capable, stayed with me. And when I walked into my very first classroom years later, I carried that belief with me.

That’s when I met William Dudley.

William was a student who, like me, struggled with reading. And, like me, he just needed someone to believe in him. I was teaching at a Title 1 school.  Where nearly every student qualified for free lunch, where there was no Parent/Teacher Organization, no extra funds, no bells or whistles. I was handed the keys to a classroom with 24 oddly shaped desks, 24 burnt-orange chairs, and a stack of worn, crumbling teacher’s manuals.

That first year, 22 children were entrusted to me.

And that first year, I saw children.  Not scores, not deficits!  I saw potential. I saw possibility. Maybe it was because I had never done this before. Maybe it was because I believed, like my second-grade teacher, that all things were possible. 

My students grew. Not just academically, but in confidence, in self-awareness, in hope. It wasn’t because I had years of experience or cutting-edge curriculum. It was because I refused to believe that success wasn’t possible. I believed in them. And that belief…simple, stubborn, steadfast…changed everything.

William learned to read.

But more than that, I learned that William wasn’t “behind” or “limited.” He was brilliant, talented, and full of depth he hadn’t yet discovered in himself. All he needed was someone to see it.

Now, as a mother, I’m on the other side of the table. I watch and listen as teachers interact with my own child. And I’ve come to understand something even deeper about teaching:

The true strength in teaching doesn’t lie in the coursework, the methodology, or even the academic standards. The real power lies in how a teacher sees a student.

Do they see potential? Do they see the effort behind the struggle? Do they create a space where it’s safe to take risks? Where mistakes are part of the process and not something to be ashamed of?

When just one teacher truly and authentically believes in the power of yet—when they see you not only as a student, but as a whole human being, everything changes. It changed everything for me. It changed everything for William. And I see it change everything for my son, whenever he is surrounded by authentically caring adults.

Over the years, I’ve often thought about William, especially now as I walk a similar path with my youngest child. A photo of my very first class hangs on my “WHY” wall.  It is a powerful daily reminder of why I do this work. For me, it has always been, and will always be, For the Children.

That wall reminds me that storms pass, struggles end, and with the right person by your side, someone who helps you recognize your own potential, every storm truly does run out of rain.