Latest / Be A Global Citizen! / 184. HGSE Global Citizen: Sandy Arntzen: Being the Cheerleader that Every Student Deserves

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184. HGSE Global Citizen: Sandy Arntzen: Being the Cheerleader that Every Student Deserves · Be A Global Citizen!

• 0:04
  Hi there, and welcome to Be a Global Citizen, the podcast that
• 0:08
  explores the concept of global citizenship through the lens of
• 0:11
  value creating education. My name is Scott Bauer and I'm a
• 0:15
  SOCO researcher and educator. I hope you find the discussions,
• 0:18
  stories, and insights on this podcast to be valuable and
• 0:22
  inspiring as we strive to become global citizens who are
• 0:25
  committed to living a contributive life.
• 0:27
  Enjoy the conversation. Hi, I'm Sandy Arntzen.
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  I'm based here in Los Angeles, CA.
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  I'm an educator. I work primarily with children
• 0:43
  who have autism and or ADHD and I've been working with kiddos
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  from ages 3 all the way up to 21, so it's a big town.
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  It is a great range and you know, like these young people,
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  they have so much energy and so many different passions and you
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  know, navigating that, I mean, even within that like range, I'm
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  sure like a 5 year old is way different from a 8 year old,
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  which is way different from a 13 year old.
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  But I'm sure that you know you you're able to like connect with
• 1:18
  them and and have a good time while doing that, right?
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  Exactly. And I love that every single day
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  is different, right? You know, because every child
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  presents more young adults, you know, present with different
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  strengths and different challenges.
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  And it's my very special honor to meet them with where they're
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  at and figure out, OK, these are your strengths.
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  How do we make you shine even bigger and brighter in these
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  areas? And these are your challenges.
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  So how do we now move through that?
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  How do we evolve? How do we transform?
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  And then, yeah, how do we have that pivot point?
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  Yeah, and I love that you use the word like it, it it's, it's
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  your honor, right to be able to like hold that space with them,
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  to be that presence in their life, to to be, you know, to
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  guide them to to support them in this way.
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  I think we don't realize how important those kind of figures
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  are in our own development, in our own upbringing.
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  And, and for you to kind of like really put it out there and say,
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  like you, you really want to understand the person in front
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  of you to really, you know, yeah, value them in their, their
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  full potential, right? Kind of bringing to light who
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  they are seeing their potential, right?
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  I think it's so important. And, and I'm, I'm really excited
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  to, to have you on the podcast for you to share.
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  Of course, you know, here we are.
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  But you know, hey, let me just kind of rewind a little bit
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  because, you know, we, we got connected not too long ago at a
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  really fun, like events. It was like a Harvard function
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  where a bunch of alumni came together at the Huntington
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  Library in Pasadena. And yeah, and then we got to sit
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  at the same table and I realized, Oh my gosh, you know,
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  you're a fellow educator as well who studied at Hugsie.
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  And and so it's just like it was really fun to to be able to like
• 3:07
  make that connection. I did talk a little bit about
• 3:10
  Fusion Academy, which is you're like, oh, that's really cool as
• 3:13
  well. So a lot of good like sharing
• 3:16
  back and forth. And and then of course, I was
• 3:19
  like, be on my podcast, please. And I want to hear more about
• 3:23
  your journey so. If you're going to be OK after
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  the hour, right? Well, no, Sandy, this is your
• 3:31
  space. So, you know, feel comfortable
• 3:33
  sharing whatever you would like, but you know it, it is an
• 3:37
  invitation for you to kind of rewind the clock a little bit
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  and speak to some of the pivotal points in your own journey,
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  maybe some of the, you know, important figures in your life.
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  But you know, if you can maybe share some of those milestones,
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  I think it would really give us a better idea as far as why you
• 3:58
  show up to work and why you would like to do the work that
• 4:01
  you do, right? So.
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  So I'll just start off generally.
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  I know that when I was in school, I always did better when
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  I liked the teacher, right? You know, I don't know about
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  you, but if I like the teacher, I was more mode.
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  I was motivated to work harder, to put in more hours and really
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  kind of face my struggles, right?
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  Just kind of really figure out what isn't working for me here
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  and how do I get to the next level because I really like this
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  teacher. So because of that, I know that
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  when I'm showing up for my kiddos, for my clients, I am
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  their number one cheerleader. I had, I need to be somebody
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  that they feel safe with. I need to be somebody that they
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  feel comfortable with. I need to be someone who they
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  feel connected to because all learning happens within the
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  context of a relationship, which also includes academic learning,
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  right? So if I, when I was at Harvard,
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  I went into some of the school districts working with young
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  kids and I remember I had to work on math with a student.
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  Do you know those like little cubes where you use for math?
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  My brain isn't accessing the words, you know, like if you're
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  doing 3 + 5, you get 3 little cubes and then 5 little cubes.
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  You know those like little cubes I'm talking about, you can stack
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  them together. Those plastic ones, I mean.
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  You're saying which, yeah, I know, but.
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  Anyway, so there was a math problem and he was getting these
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  cubes, but he was not. He was not doing the math
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  formula with the cubes. He was creating something else.
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  And instead of being punitive, I approached him from a place of
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  curiosity and I asked what he was doing.
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  And he told me he was making a coffin because his uncle had
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  overdosed over the weekend. And then I was thinking, how am
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  I supposed to sit here and teach him math if he's processing such
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  trauma and he's such a young child?
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  And then it was a moment of like, how do I step back and how
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  do I show up as a human to this child 1st And how do I let him
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  have a moment where he can talk about what's happening for him,
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  right? This is a very extreme example.
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  But all to say that with the learning, whenever I work with
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  kids, I need to make sure that they're emotionally regulated so
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  that I can then teach them the academics that they're
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  struggling with. So a lot of times when I have
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  kids who are coming to me, they might, you know, they have some
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  difficulty, they have some challenges at school.
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  And for a lot of kids, sometimes that shows up as anxiety, shame,
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  avoidance, eloping, all the different things, right?
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  And so my first task is to always work on emotional
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  regulation. And I always think back to when
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  I was a kid, I always tried harder when I felt like I like
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  the teacher and there was a connection and that I was seen.
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  And then of course, through my education at Harvard.
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  Well, I went to UCLA before Harvard.
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  I don't know if I could disappoint you that way, but at
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  UCLAA lot of my education was behavioral.
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  So UCLA, I have a very behavioral background from UCLA.
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  And then at Harvard it was very relational.
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  I even took a class called Peer, A peer play.
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  Oh gosh, what is it called? It was so long ago, peer play
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  modeling or something like that, and it was all about connection.
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  So it would be two adults modeling a relationship with two
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  kids, right? So that really landed for me.
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  It's like, OK, these kids are feeling connected.
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  And if there is also a role modeling as to how do we connect
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  with each other, how do we show up, how do we ask for help and
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  how do we also receive help? So the way that I work is very
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  relational. That was a very long winded
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  answer to a. Question No, no, no, not at all.
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  You know, actually what you're saying about, you know, really
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  liking the teacher and how that motivates you to to learn
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  yourself. And, you know, kind of seeing
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  seeing that spark modeled another person and naturally
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  being attracted to that and wanting to kind of like kind of,
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  you know, build upon that together.
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  You know, I've heard this phrase like you teach the way that you
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  were taught. And I don't know if that
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  resonates, but from from your recollection of like the
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  teachers that you really connected with that you really
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  felt like they were your cheerleader.
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  Is there any teacher that like just immediately kind of pops
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  into mind that you can maybe speak to?
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  You don't have to put names, but yeah.
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  At a teacher in high school named Mr. Brady.
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  I went to an all girl high school in San Francisco and my
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  smallest class was 4 and I think my biggest class was maybe 12.
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  So talk about individual, you know, learning, right?
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  Kind of like fusion, but not because at least we were had
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  more of a group. So Mr. Brady was like that.
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  He just was this very grandfatherly figure.
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  He was very kind and he just made every lesson fun and
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  interactive. And we participated well with
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  him because all of our he just knew how to, this is going to
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  sound so LA, so LA, but you know, he really knew how to, he
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  had a high vibe and he knew how to draw that energy from us as
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  well. So that has always been really
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  fascinating to me. Like how do I get this child
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  from point A to point B? Like where do I need to meet
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  them emotionally? I need to hear what they're
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  saying, and I also need to pay attention to what they're not
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  saying, right? A lot of times, it's what
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  they're not saying that we really have to pay attention to.
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  And I really do believe that all learning happens within the
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  context of our relationship. You know, our relationships with
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  our parents, for example, with our siblings, and even in
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  romantic relationships, hopefully we go into romantic
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  relationships to learn and to heal each other and just not
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  mindlessly. But if you approach, you know,
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  your life and you look at your relationships as a place to
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  learn, then that also kind of it puts you in a framework as to
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  what is my responsibility here? How do I need to show up?
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  And am I showing up in this in a way where there is progress?
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  And I'm at the point in my career where I can meet a client
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  for the first time. And I know pretty well that I
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  can be of service or that I cannot be of service because not
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  every relationship is also going to work.
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  And I also let people know that too, like when they're out
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  there, you know, looking for a speech therapist, occupational
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  therapist, you know, you name it.
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  You don't always have to go after the big names.
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  It's really just like you don't always have to go after the most
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  popular boy in high school, right?
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  You know, you want to go towards the person that you feel safe
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  with, the person who sees you, the person who's going to
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  actually do the work with you. And you got to make sure that
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  you pick the right partner. Yeah, there's there's a couple
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  of things that really stood out from what you just shared.
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  One of them was about, like you said, pay attention to what they
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  are not saying. And I think that, you know, when
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  you're like in like maybe like either like a therapist, kind of
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  like looking at a client for the first time, meeting them for the
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  first time, or as a teacher observing like the dynamics
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  within a classroom. There is something to say about
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  like a younger, you know, professional just not having
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  that kind of experience to pick up on certain patterns, certain
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  behaviors, certain things. And there's this fixation,
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  right? I think a tendency to try to
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  just like take things at face value and like make judgments
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  off of that. But then there's this whole host
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  of like behaviors that aren't popping up, right?
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  Or that, you know, are not being expressed or, or kind of like
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  pauses or silences that you're kind of like wondering what will
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  come of that. And, and I feel like when you
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  are further in your career and you're able to pick up on that,
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  it, that actually speaks much louder than what is being like
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  verbally said. So I think that that all of that
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  kind of comes down to like wisdom and like discernment of
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  like really getting to the essence of like what is, what is
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  the need and what is really at play here?
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  And it's complex, right? Again, it takes years of, of
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  practice and, and experience. So that was really, I think,
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  very powerful because, you know, this teacher that you mentioned,
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  Mr. Brady, sounds like, you know, you said he had a
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  grandfatherly figure. I'm sure he was, you know, more
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  mature. Maybe it wasn't like actual
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  grandpa age, but nonetheless. But he was.
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  I think he was he definitely he he also looked like a
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  grandfather of like everything about him and he was just like
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  the sweetest man. I've never met anyone as sweet
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  and as caring and as thoughtful as as as he he's.
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  He was just amazing. I had a lot of great teachers,
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  and I also had a lot of teachers that weren't so great.
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  And I also learned a lot from the teachers who weren't so
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  great either, right? That's, that's, that's life.
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  You know, you got to have a lot of different teachers, right, to
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  kind of show you the, the spectrum of of what is what you
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  like and what works and what you don't like and what doesn't
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  work. Because the, the second thing
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  that really stood out to me from what you shared was that
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  learning happens within the context of a relationship.
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  And I think, you know, like as a human being, right, we're we're
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  kind of like wired to learn, right?
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  Ever since, you know, like when we're babies, like we're just
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  absorbing, we're observing everything.
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  But then we find ourselves embedded in so many different
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  contexts, right? And, and I think that, you know,
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  we kind of come up against so many other people as, you know,
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  we go through this life and we're like, I'm thinking of
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  like, we're like potatoes in like like a knapsack or
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  something. And we're all kind of like, you
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  know, like you move the bag around and we're all like
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  rubbing up against each other. And sometimes it can be like a
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  lot more like friction. And, and in some ways actually
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  that friction helps to clean the potatoes, right?
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  Because they're kind of like the dirt and stuff, but like, you
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  know, in a more like specific case.
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  And, you know, I do find that, like if you're in a, I don't
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  know, a situation where a boss is particularly, you know, mean,
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  or has high standards, it's difficult to feel truly safe.
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  And so then maybe like the learning process is kind of like
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  hindered in that sense. And then, but, but then, yeah,
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  so I mean, I, I, I really see that clearly in like a classroom
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  context. But then also even just in like
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  adult relationships and even romantic relationships, like how
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  is it that you can like negotiate, you know, like
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  different personalities and different, you know, ways in
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  which you feel safe, right? Because it sounds like, you
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  know, that emotion, emotional regulation, like psychological
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  safety, these things really go hand in hand together.
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  And that's kind of that's like the main thing that you first
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  address right before you can get to anything else, right?
• 15:34
  Yes. I mean, I come from the school
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  of thought that those needs to be established so that the
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  learning can happen. You know, I don't want to
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  create. I want learning to be fun.
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  I want it to feel enjoyable. There's enough people out there
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  who will make learning not feel fun as we know there's enough
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  people, right? Like like the reality of but so
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  I want to be kind of like a diamond and rough, right?
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  You know, I want to be somebody who makes learning feel fun and
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  exciting. Definitely not punitive.
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  And there's going to be times where it's not always going to
• 16:11
  be a dopamine hit and rush. I understand that as well.
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  But to the best of my ability, especially when the kiddos are
• 16:18
  really young, I want it to feel more like play.
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  One of the things I do with, you know, the kids who are able to
• 16:27
  have these kind of conversations, I start with, you
• 16:31
  know, just like a check in, you know, tell me a rose.
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  What is something good that has happened within the past week?
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  And then tell me a thorn. What is something that's
• 16:40
  happened that you didn't really like?
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  It doesn't have to be some big dramatic horrible thing.
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  It could be something that just kind of felt annoying And tell
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  me a bud, what are you looking forward to?
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  And because I do this every week, I also do it with the
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  kids. So I am modeling it for them.
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  You know, Oh my roses. I had lunch with my friend.
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  You know, my bud is I'm going to see my dad later today.
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  You know, my thorn is, you know, my friend was sick last week.
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  And just to model so they can also start sharing.
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  And I've noticed that when I create that space before the
• 17:19
  session, it really just also helps them release whatever it
• 17:23
  is that they need to release so that we can get to work or for
• 17:28
  them to share any kind of happiness.
• 17:31
  So it really feels. So that's something that I don't
• 17:35
  know if you want to do, but. That's beautiful, That's
• 17:37
  beautiful. I love that because I I also
• 17:41
  really value check insurance and that's what I would regularly do
• 17:44
  within my classroom as well. But the imagery of a rose, it's,
• 17:49
  I mean, we think of it like in nature as like that's natural,
• 17:52
  right? That like there's the beauty of
• 17:55
  the Rose itself, but there's the, the reality of like, if you
• 17:59
  go to pick it up, you might grab the thorn and that hurts and but
• 18:04
  it doesn't necessarily diminish the actual beauty that is there.
• 18:07
  But it but then also you bring in the bud part of it, which is
• 18:11
  like more future like, you know, looking like, like, oh, what
• 18:14
  will come next? And yeah, and I just find that
• 18:17
  it's a very it's a very nifty, you know, kind of like analogy,
• 18:23
  right, of like kind of what their life is like in this
• 18:26
  current moment. So I will definitely steal that
• 18:29
  and and use that. And it also just helps me
• 18:31
  understand when they're walking into the session what's what's
• 18:35
  alive and well for them, because usually what they're sharing is
• 18:39
  alive and well for them. And and then it also gives us
• 18:43
  like a space to celebrate the roses and it also gives us space
• 18:47
  to talk about the thorns. And then how do we problem
• 18:51
  solve? Like kiddos will tell me about
• 18:53
  bullying situations, you know that that will happen.
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  And then we'll talk about different ways as to how they
• 19:00
  can respond to that. Give them some tools for that
• 19:04
  and then what they're looking forward to.
• 19:06
  Sometimes they think it has to be something really big.
• 19:09
  I'm like, no, it could be something as like something as
• 19:13
  simple as my mom's going to make me my favorite meal tonight.
• 19:16
  You know, it doesn't have to be like I'm going on a trip.
• 19:19
  It's also kind of tweaking like not everything has to be so big
• 19:23
  and grandiose because I think here in LA sometimes, you know,
• 19:29
  we and the kids and the adolescents here, everything
• 19:32
  feels like it needs to be big. You know, like the roses have to
• 19:34
  be like some big 5 star event that has happened.
• 19:39
  And I'll tell them, you know, the Rose can just be like it's
• 19:41
  sunny outside. They like the weather, you know.
• 19:44
  So just also looking for those moments of being happy as well.
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  So I always like there's, I'm always like planting these like
• 19:51
  different little seeds as to how they can start looking at their
• 19:55
  life and shifting what is important if you'd call it out.
• 20:00
  And also like, I think there's a an element of like appreciation,
• 20:04
  right? And like recognizing that, you
• 20:06
  know, yeah, today that rose is the fact that it's it's sunny
• 20:11
  outside, right? Or, or that it is like, you
• 20:14
  know, that home cooked meal that you you really enjoy.
• 20:16
  Oh. My gosh.
• 20:17
  So let's do it now. So, Scott, what is your rose?
• 20:21
  What is my rose? My rose is being able to to
• 20:27
  finally connect with you and have this opportunity to learn
• 20:30
  more about your journey. No, really, honestly, I mean, I
• 20:33
  find that like this, you know, even though it's very much a
• 20:35
  space that I, I, I want and I invite people to join on.
• 20:40
  I, I end up learning so much and get so inspired by people just
• 20:44
  kind of in very vulnerable ways sharing out like, yeah, this is
• 20:47
  kind of what makes me me and what makes me tick.
• 20:50
  So I find that to be very powerful, the connection piece.
• 20:54
  So that's my rose. And yeah, oh, do you have to go
• 20:57
  through all of them? Yes, you have to go through all
• 20:59
  of them. So what you I do?
• 21:00
  OK, Oh, my thorn. I think my thorn, I feel, yeah,
• 21:10
  it's, it's like a heavy one because there's like, I think
• 21:14
  certain struggles of like kind of the anxiety of like keeping
• 21:19
  up with a lot of things that, you know, like day-to-day.
• 21:23
  And it's, I think, I don't know, it's not like particularly like
• 21:27
  a sharp thorn. Maybe it's like a dull thorn,
• 21:30
  but it's been like persistent right where I'm trying to, I'm
• 21:35
  like wary of it, but I'm trying to do more to like mitigate my
• 21:40
  own kind of like overwhelm with a lot of things happening in the
• 21:43
  world. But then also, even just
• 21:45
  day-to-day, got to go to work. All.
• 21:47
  That stuff. So it's a, it's a tricky thorn.
• 21:49
  It's a tricky thorn, you know, but it's there.
• 21:52
  It's micro and macro, right? It is, yeah.
• 21:56
  And then the bud, what I'm looking forward to, I am looking
• 22:05
  forward to, I am, well, I'm looking forward to.
• 22:08
  So I'm, you know, I'm, I'm part of a Buddhist community and we
• 22:11
  have these like monthly meetings and I'm really looking forward
• 22:15
  to our like community monthly meeting because we, I, I, I kind
• 22:19
  of take it upon myself to do like skits and I like to be
• 22:22
  like, really creative with it. So it's like my like super
• 22:25
  creative outlets to do like a fun skit with some of the other
• 22:29
  youth in the community. So I'm looking forward to that
• 22:32
  and I look forward to it every single month.
• 22:33
  Oh. Fun.
• 22:35
  That's exciting. Thank you.
• 22:37
  What about you? What about you?
• 22:38
  And let's see. So my rose is.
• 22:42
  It was my birthday and as you know, because I am.
• 22:45
  Birthday. I'm very classically annoyingly
• 22:49
  Leo in the sense that I celebrated my birthday all
• 22:51
  month. So it's still going on.
• 22:54
  You still got a. You still got this week.
• 22:56
  Yesterday was like the final last, like hurrah, hurrah.
• 23:00
  I I went to a, a restaurant here called Morrell at the Sanborn
• 23:06
  Hotel. So we had brunch there and then
• 23:09
  we walked over to shutters and then we got dessert and then
• 23:13
  early dinner. So I was with three of my
• 23:16
  girlfriends. So that was.
• 23:17
  A lot of fun. Wonderful.
• 23:19
  Yeah, that sounds like a like, what's that bouquet of roses
• 23:22
  right there? Exactly.
• 23:24
  A bouquet of roses. So a month of fun things.
• 23:27
  And I also went to a drag show in West Hollywood.
• 23:32
  Last. Thursday.
• 23:33
  I know that was fun and this. Is sounding like only roses.
• 23:37
  Where's the? Thorn only roses.
• 23:38
  And then my boyfriend took me to Laguna, Laguna, Laguna Beach.
• 23:43
  I could speak English and then I spent time with my dad and and
• 23:47
  then I had like little one off like dinners with other friends
• 23:50
  too. So yeah.
• 23:51
  So that's my rose. OK, sounds great.
• 23:56
  I know exactly my thorn is, Yeah, like summer's ending.
• 24:04
  And there's still so many things I wanted to do this summer that
• 24:07
  I got to, like, figure out how to do it.
• 24:09
  But it's kind of hard because, as you know, a lot of my clients
• 24:12
  have started school already, so I'm kind of back in school mode.
• 24:16
  So that's my thorn. I didn't get to do everything I
• 24:18
  wanted to do over summer, but that's OK.
• 24:21
  And my bud is I'm actually waiting for all my kiddos to get
• 24:27
  back into school fully. I'm excited to see what's going
• 24:31
  to happen this year and how they transform.
• 24:33
  I'm excited to meet their new teachers and any other
• 24:38
  specialists that will be joining the team.
• 24:40
  So that part's always it feels, I'll be honest, sometimes
• 24:43
  overwhelming because it could be a lot of phone calls in a day,
• 24:46
  It could be a lot of clients in a day.
• 24:48
  So it can be overwhelming sometimes.
• 24:51
  I have to be really good and mindful as to spacing out my
• 24:54
  commitments, but I am looking forward to it.
• 24:58
  I thought you were going to say that.
• 25:00
  I thought you were going to say your bud was next summer.
• 25:02
  Drop the thorn. It's summer's ending.
• 25:05
  The bud next summer. Hey, trust me, I thought that.
• 25:09
  I thought that. So you get me.
• 25:10
  You get me? Yeah, I'm, I'm, I'm getting
• 25:12
  there. I'm getting there.
• 25:14
  Yeah. So I, I do want to like learn
• 25:16
  more about, you know, the, the clients that you serve and like
• 25:20
  how you further connect with them.
• 25:22
  And maybe like some like, you know, some great stories of
• 25:26
  like, you know, maybe like like challenge of like connecting
• 25:29
  and, and then kind of like how you kind of overcame that.
• 25:32
  But before we get into that, I actually kind of want to like
• 25:35
  rewind the clock a little bit more because I'd love for you to
• 25:37
  share a little bit more about that.
• 25:39
  You mentioned about like growing up, growing up in like San
• 25:42
  Francisco and like a small school, But I'd, I'd love to
• 25:45
  hear a little bit about your parents, if that's OK.
• 25:47
  I mean like, how were they like it's.
• 25:49
  Very. I come from a very complicated
• 25:52
  family. OK, it's.
• 25:55
  Very We're off to a good start. Yes, it's very complex.
• 26:00
  I grew up in, I was born here in Upland, CA and then moved to San
• 26:06
  Francisco at a very young age. I think I was like 3 or 4 years
• 26:10
  old. And so I consider San Francisco
• 26:13
  my childhood home and I consider Los Angeles my home home.
• 26:16
  I've been here, gosh, since I was 18 years old and I'm 53 now.
• 26:22
  So it's yeah, I know. So it's so LA is my home and
• 26:29
  yeah, so complicated family story is what I will say.
• 26:33
  I'm not going to say too much more just out of respect because
• 26:36
  I don't know how other members in the family will feel.
• 26:42
  But you're this is going to, this is going to drive you wild.
• 26:46
  So I was my mother's first child and I, I don't even know how to
• 26:53
  say this because it's so wacky. So she actually transferred me
• 26:57
  to multiple schools, I think over 10 schools before 8th
• 27:01
  grade. Like I would go to a school and
• 27:04
  there would be something about the school she didn't like and
• 27:06
  she would pull me from that school and then she put me into
• 27:09
  a different school. So my foundational education was
• 27:13
  very Jarred because I was being transferred from school to
• 27:18
  school to school. And so when I would land out of
• 27:20
  school, I wouldn't even attempt to make friends because I didn't
• 27:23
  even know how long I was going to be there for, right?
• 27:26
  And then finally they found a school, and I'm not going to say
• 27:31
  its name, and they settled me in there for a while.
• 27:35
  It's a Catholic school. I was there from 4th grade to
• 27:42
  7th grade. And in 7th grade, one day the
• 27:47
  teacher stood in front of the classroom and he proceeded to
• 27:51
  say that Asians needed to stay with Asians.
• 27:56
  Yeah, you can tell where the conversation was going to go.
• 27:58
  You know, whites need to stay with whites.
• 28:00
  And as you know, my mother is Taiwanese and my father is of
• 28:04
  Norwegian, Norwegian descent, Sandra Ardsen.
• 28:07
  And he proceeded to go down that line of conversation, which I
• 28:14
  was having an issue with growing up.
• 28:16
  All my parents friends, they were all interracial, you know,
• 28:19
  so all my friends were were mixed, you know, and we all
• 28:23
  looked alike, which was kind of funny.
• 28:26
  So we would pretend that we were all siblings.
• 28:28
  And so I raised my hand and I spoke back and I said that was
• 28:34
  not the case. Because if that is wrong, then
• 28:36
  that means I am wrong and I am not wrong.
• 28:39
  It is not wrong for me to be here.
• 28:41
  And he told me to be quiet, which is not great.
• 28:47
  And then and then I remember asking him if he was going to
• 28:51
  continue talking like that. And he said yes.
• 28:54
  And so I told him that I was going to wait in the hallway
• 28:57
  until he was done. And I took my chair and sat in
• 29:00
  the hallway and I went home and I told my parents what happened.
• 29:04
  And they pulled me out of that school first.
• 29:06
  So when they pulled me out of that school, it made sense to
• 29:08
  me. But all the other ones, I'm
• 29:09
  like, what is happening? You know, all to say that I
• 29:14
  ended up at a school called Convent of the Sacred Heart in
• 29:17
  San Francisco. And there are a ton of them.
• 29:20
  They have it in New Orleans, New York.
• 29:22
  My mother went to the one in Taiwan.
• 29:25
  And so when I went there, it was a small school and they said
• 29:31
  that in order for me to join that I would have to start
• 29:35
  therapy because all the other girls have been together since
• 29:38
  kindergarten. So they wanted me to have the
• 29:40
  emotional support to join an ongoing group of girls and they
• 29:46
  knew why I was being transferred there.
• 29:48
  So that's also why they made the exception.
• 29:51
  So I went to convent for 8th grade and then all through high
• 29:54
  school. So when I was in convent,
• 29:56
  because the classes were so small, they were able to give me
• 30:01
  that you were able to fill in all the gaps for me.
• 30:04
  And that's why it was great that some of the classes were four
• 30:08
  people, you know, So when I first started convent, they had
• 30:12
  like 3 levels of classes. And I'm just going to be very
• 30:16
  kind of blunt and crass about it.
• 30:17
  They had like the average, right?
• 30:19
  You know, this is like the main road.
• 30:21
  And then they had the honors and then the group where, OK, we
• 30:24
  need a little bit of help here. So when I started convent, I
• 30:27
  started with the with that group, like, OK, I need a little
• 30:31
  bit more, but by the time I was a senior, I was taking all the
• 30:35
  AP classes and everything. So individualized learning and
• 30:39
  all of that. I'm a big, big support of that's
• 30:42
  obviously something you don't know about me.
• 30:43
  So that's why I've always been curious about fusion, right?
• 30:48
  Because you're giving the one-on-one support, the
• 30:51
  one-on-one teaching. And it definitely helped and
• 30:54
  benefited me. Not that I went to Fusion, but I
• 30:56
  went to a very small structured all girls school, so that was
• 31:01
  probably way too much information.
• 31:03
  So all to say, I went through quite I had AI, had a very
• 31:11
  interesting relationship to education myself.
• 31:14
  Yeah. And you know, well, First off,
• 31:16
  thank you so much for for sharing that.
• 31:18
  I mean, it's never like way too much is whatever you felt
• 31:21
  comfortable sharing. And, you know, it's clear from
• 31:24
  what you you shared that there were a lot of disruptions at,
• 31:28
  you know, you know, it really, you know, big kind of
• 31:31
  developmental periods of of your life were like in schooling,
• 31:35
  moving 10 times and then and then having these these
• 31:39
  interactions with teachers where you're faced with
• 31:41
  discrimination. I love that, you know, you had
• 31:45
  this like spirit of justice to be like, that's wrong.
• 31:50
  And you know, I'm going to I'm standing up to you.
• 31:52
  And then your parents, I think really, you know, like through
• 31:57
  their actions showed how, you know, like they were on your
• 32:01
  side, right? Because they were like, yeah,
• 32:02
  that's that. That's not, we're not going to
• 32:04
  tolerate that either. And, and ultimately you found
• 32:07
  the right school, the right fit and and had a great experience
• 32:11
  as a result of that. I'm curious because you did
• 32:14
  mention the biracial, you know, or interracial racial kind of
• 32:19
  like kids running around and you were one of them.
• 32:21
  And I actually have this experience myself being that my
• 32:24
  mom is Korean and then my dad is Caucasian white.
• 32:29
  And, and yeah. And the people, they kind of do
• 32:33
  look at you a little bit differently, right?
• 32:36
  And, and I think it all comes down to identity and kind of
• 32:41
  what cultural milieu you were raised in.
• 32:46
  And I always kind of thought of it as like, almost like a, like
• 32:49
  a, there's like a little arrow, like a ticker that kind of like
• 32:52
  goes in One Direction. I always felt like, oh, mine
• 32:55
  always pointed more towards like the white side, but but it was
• 32:59
  always kind of, you know, still, you know, going towards like I
• 33:03
  would have like gatherings with, you know, family on my, my mom's
• 33:07
  side. And but like, you know, it's
• 33:09
  clear that like growing up in California, there was like,
• 33:12
  maybe like a heavier presence, right.
• 33:15
  In terms of like, you know, surfer Socal, like white surfer
• 33:19
  culture, yeah, kind of thing. And then we're speaking English.
• 33:23
  But I'm curious, like, what was that experience like for you
• 33:26
  growing up biracial? And does it like the, in terms
• 33:31
  of identity formation? Does any of that kind of like
• 33:34
  resonate with, you know, the, the, the name of this podcast is
• 33:38
  global citizenship. Is there any intersection that
• 33:41
  you can maybe like make with with that in terms of that
• 33:44
  particular dimension? Well, I can start talking.
• 33:47
  We can continue our dialogue. But yeah, totally.
• 33:50
  I remember my mom would always say that she always wanted to
• 33:55
  marry a white man because she purposely wanted to have kids
• 34:01
  who are mixed because she said that she thought mixed kids were
• 34:03
  the most beautiful, right? So from that perspective, I'm
• 34:06
  like, OK, score, right? You did it.
• 34:11
  My mom thinks that I'm beautiful.
• 34:13
  So like she purposely did this. And then of course, as an adult,
• 34:17
  I'm like, this is not why we pick a part now.
• 34:22
  There should be a little bit more.
• 34:23
  Anyways. OK, let me calm down.
• 34:27
  So my parents, they were really great and I think they did, they
• 34:34
  did a really good job instilling that all parts of me are amazing
• 34:39
  and all parts of me are good. And you know, the Caucasian, the
• 34:42
  Norwegian part as well as the Taiwanese.
• 34:45
  Like, it's all good and to be all celebrated.
• 34:50
  I was very close to my mother's mother, my grandmother.
• 34:54
  So I would say I had a heavier, maybe Asian cultural upbringing,
• 34:59
  a little bit more traditionally slanted that way, because my
• 35:04
  mother's side of the family had more of a presence that my
• 35:08
  father's. I do remember being teased by
• 35:14
  kids for being half Chinese. They would make fun of the food
• 35:21
  that I would bring or, you know, they would hold their eyes up
• 35:25
  and, you know, you know, do things like that.
• 35:28
  I mean, I like, I'm much older than you.
• 35:30
  So I also grew up in a time where even though it was San
• 35:34
  Francisco, I think there was a little bit more of lack of, you
• 35:40
  know, understanding, appreciation and tolerance, you
• 35:43
  know, fill in the blank, whichever word you think belongs
• 35:46
  there. So I think I felt it in that I
• 35:51
  felt it. I felt it more I think when I
• 35:54
  was that was also at that Catholic school, not a surprise,
• 36:02
  right? But like outside being out in
• 36:06
  the world, I didn't really feel it that some of my classmates
• 36:10
  did, you know, tease me. And then I also had the opposite
• 36:14
  thing where it was like, you're so different looking than what I
• 36:20
  usually see, almost like fetishized, you know, both by,
• 36:26
  you know, Asian men because I was like the Asian men who
• 36:29
  wanted to be with a white girl but really couldn't be with a
• 36:32
  white girl because they needed to be with an Asian woman.
• 36:34
  Like I was like, I was like, OK, I can I can go outstanding,
• 36:38
  right, Because she's both you can't say no to this, right?
• 36:44
  And then the same thing with so it's, it's been interesting, you
• 36:47
  know, so to have all these different kinds of, you know,
• 36:53
  reactions and just kind of paying attention to what that
• 36:57
  what that is, you know, especially being like a teenager
• 37:02
  and early adult and then just being a woman as to how
• 37:07
  sometimes that you know, comes up.
• 37:09
  Does that happen? I'm sure that happens on your
• 37:11
  side too. Yeah, yeah, definitely.
• 37:15
  You know, so I, I was born and raised in Southern California in
• 37:19
  Torrance, and there are a lot of, you know, mixed race kids
• 37:24
  running around like me too. And but yeah, I, I, I felt
• 37:29
  similar, kind of like, like, oh, you're different.
• 37:32
  Like they would, there would be these kind of like
• 37:34
  microaggressions where sometimes you would be kind of like meant
• 37:38
  as like a compliment, but it's still kind of fractures your own
• 37:41
  sense of like, like, like, you know, you're not like pure,
• 37:45
  you're like 1 entity itself, which is, which raises question
• 37:50
  marks about like, why does it have to be thought of in that
• 37:53
  way? And again, like, for me, it was
• 37:55
  always like, it's almost like a tug of war.
• 37:57
  Maybe actually that's a better analogy of like which side is
• 37:59
  pulling harder and then you're you're more aligned with maybe.
• 38:04
  Whereas now I don't see it as a tug of war at all.
• 38:07
  You know, it's nothing close to that.
• 38:10
  It's more of like how you can just really embrace all sides of
• 38:13
  it. And yeah, I think that the
• 38:18
  perceptions of other people like that, you know, I, I don't have
• 38:21
  any influence over that. You know, people are going to
• 38:24
  say what they're going to say. What I did notice is like when I
• 38:26
  started to travel, you know, because I've lived abroad in a
• 38:29
  couple different places, primarily Brazil, I started to
• 38:34
  find people, you know, like the way people perceive you in other
• 38:39
  places is just like vastly different, right Then like here
• 38:42
  in like Southern California, like LA area because they have
• 38:46
  like these kind of certain like buckets that they pull from like
• 38:49
  Hapa, right mixed, like half white, half Asian.
• 38:52
  And but then I go to Brazil and there's they're, they're just
• 38:55
  like, Oh yeah, everyone's mixed, you know, like big, big whoop,
• 38:58
  you know, like join the club. And, you know, there's like
• 39:01
  this, this kind of more overarching identity as like,
• 39:05
  yeah, you're just Brazilian. I mean, yeah, like they do have
• 39:08
  like, you know, a lot of like large Japanese immigrant
• 39:11
  population and, you know, like 4th, 3rd, 4th, 5th generation
• 39:16
  Japanese. But in terms of like when I was
• 39:20
  there, they just kind of were like, Oh yeah, you could be
• 39:22
  Brazilian, right? And and I thought that was
• 39:25
  really fun. Yes, because I would say, like
• 39:27
  you and I, we also look ethnically ambiguous too.
• 39:32
  Yeah, right. They don't really can't put
• 39:34
  their finger on you and like, I don't know.
• 39:36
  So we'll just say you're Brazilian, you know, but that's
• 39:39
  the that's the kind of like these like wider, you know,
• 39:43
  identities or like more expansive identities.
• 39:46
  It's kind of like what a what I, I, I'd be curious to hear your
• 39:50
  thoughts on because when I think about global citizenship, it is
• 39:53
  coming from like a place of more expansive identity.
• 39:58
  But I'm, I'm curious to hear your thoughts.
• 40:02
  It does not have to come from like the racial perspective
• 40:04
  either in terms of like mixed identity, but even in the work
• 40:08
  that you do or like what you've picked up as an educator.
• 40:11
  But is, is global citizenship something that you have like?
• 40:16
  You know thought about used as part of you know, your your own
• 40:20
  vocabulary or like what is your? How does it even like you?
• 40:24
  Know you are the first person I've ever heard that phrase
• 40:26
  from. Oh, this is exciting.
• 40:29
  So I mean, I'm just curious to hear, like, how do you even
• 40:31
  unpack something like that? Like, what is it?
• 40:34
  What do you think it means? What do I think it means?
• 40:37
  I think it just means how do I show up to the How do I show up
• 40:41
  in this world and how do I contribute to this world?
• 40:44
  So when clients call me, I would say 99% of the time, I always
• 40:49
  say how can I be of support? So the way that I would like to
• 40:54
  show up in the world, and I hope I do, and I know there are times
• 40:57
  where I slip because I'm human. I like to show up in the world,
• 41:03
  you know, to be of support, OK, not to sound corny or cheesy or
• 41:06
  any of that. I the work that I do, I really
• 41:09
  do think it is why I'm here on this planet.
• 41:12
  I really do think this is what I'm supposed to do.
• 41:15
  I can't imagine doing anything else.
• 41:19
  Anything else just does not seem interesting to me.
• 41:23
  The way that working with kids and teaching them, whether it's
• 41:29
  academics or giving them some tools so that they can self
• 41:32
  regulate, so that they can Co regulate, so that they can feel
• 41:35
  good and proud of themselves. You know, I think that's why I'm
• 41:40
  here. I think that's my purpose.
• 41:44
  But just in general, I think I'm supposed to, and I want to like
• 41:50
  we all, there's all a, there's a ticking clock for all of us, you
• 41:54
  know, not to sound morbid, but here I go.
• 41:56
  But there is a chicken clock for all of us and we don't know when
• 41:59
  that's going to be. So with the time that I have
• 42:04
  here, I don't want to cause harm.
• 42:06
  I don't want to cause distress. I want to be somebody who has
• 42:12
  brought some kindness, some goodness.
• 42:14
  And I do think it's because, you know, I have had some traumatic
• 42:20
  things happen to me in my life. So I do understand what pain
• 42:26
  feels like. I understand what violence feels
• 42:28
  like. I understand what rage and
• 42:31
  unpredictability feels like and looks like.
• 42:35
  And so I know that does exist in the world.
• 42:39
  And so I know the exact opposite exists in the world.
• 42:43
  So I like to be what the exact opposite of what that is.
• 42:47
  So if I can move about this world and, you know, it can't
• 42:53
  help everybody and that's not my goal, but the people who do
• 42:56
  cross my path and and there are some kids who come into my life
• 43:02
  and I know on the spiritual level that I'm supposed to be
• 43:05
  working with them. Like there was like a bigger
• 43:08
  calling as to why they have appeared in my life.
• 43:13
  And for years, I would kind of do a little prayer and I would
• 43:17
  say, you know, please send me the families who I can best
• 43:20
  support, you know, please. And I swear to you, like just
• 43:25
  even having that little mantra, I have had clients who have come
• 43:29
  to me who we are in alignment with because I think I'm also a
• 43:33
  special breed too, you know. So the clients I have also have
• 43:37
  to be, you know, we have to be in alignment.
• 43:41
  I remember I had a referral from one of my clients, and she's
• 43:47
  like, I want you to work with my friend and her sons.
• 43:50
  And so this woman called me up. I'll just call her Jill.
• 43:54
  So Jill called me up and I said, let's just meet for, you know,
• 44:00
  coffee, tea, juice, whatever. And as we were talking, she was
• 44:04
  talking about her three kids. And out of nowhere, I said this
• 44:08
  to her. And I was like, Oh my gosh, this
• 44:10
  is not what I learned at UCLA. It's not what I learned at
• 44:12
  Harvard. But I said to her, being a
• 44:14
  parent in my perspective is probably the most spiritual path
• 44:19
  that you can take. Because in order to show up for
• 44:22
  your child, you really, there are moments in your life and
• 44:26
  periods of your life where you have to be selfless and you have
• 44:31
  to look at your child and show up for them in a way that they
• 44:33
  need for their growth. Right There is.
• 44:36
  And I, I think that's very spiritual.
• 44:39
  And I said, and as soon as I said that, I also have very
• 44:43
  thought of like, Oh no, I'm not supposed to say that.
• 44:45
  That's so woo woo, right? And she immediately said, can we
• 44:49
  please work together? And I was like, OK, got it.
• 44:53
  Like we speak the same languages and like, I don't know if you
• 44:56
  can see, but I have this like feather tattoo, you know?
• 45:00
  And so, so I have this tattoo and a feather.
• 45:04
  It symbolizes that everything should be light as a feather,
• 45:08
  right? And so sometimes my kids who
• 45:10
  carry really heavy stuff, like I show them my tattoo and we talk
• 45:14
  about feathers and how they're supposed to be light.
• 45:17
  And one of my clients is so funny.
• 45:19
  She said all your tattoos should be tax deductible, right?
• 45:27
  Like I'm glad my tattoos are. But it evoked a reaction.
• 45:33
  That's good talking point. But then also like did say the
• 45:37
  darnest thing. So I, you're like, I would have
• 45:39
  thought of that. But you know, I, I, I do want to
• 45:41
  like kind of just kind of, you know, summarize a little bit of,
• 45:47
  of what you shared. Because, you know, I think
• 45:49
  there's a lot of really that it was, there was some gold that
• 45:52
  you shared about what, what, why you do the work that you're
• 45:56
  doing and also a little bit of like grappling with, yeah,
• 45:59
  global citizenship. What does that even mean?
• 46:01
  And you know, I just, I just want to do good.
• 46:04
  I want to contribute. And, and from what you shared it
• 46:08
  just, it's very clear that you have a really big heart for
• 46:12
  people who, who, who may be struggling, people who, you
• 46:18
  know, you see that you can actually like support and you,
• 46:21
  you see their potential. And you want to bring that out
• 46:23
  to have that shine even more brightly than it already is.
• 46:27
  And, and to be of service to others, I think is so, so needed
• 46:32
  in the world where everything really kind of just feels
• 46:36
  transactional. And I and even that that
• 46:38
  conversation that you had where you kind of, you know, just said
• 46:42
  out loud, you said that the quiet thing out loud, right?
• 46:46
  But actually that was you being authentic and that was you being
• 46:51
  able to make that connection in a way that for a lot of people,
• 46:54
  like they would have been either to like scared to say nervous or
• 46:59
  hesitant or just would have come across totally wrong.
• 47:03
  And I think, you know, if we're able to be our true selves and
• 47:06
  show up as our true selves, people really pick up on that,
• 47:10
  right? Because we're, I, I think we're
• 47:12
  all very spiritual beings, whether we say it or not or
• 47:16
  we're whether we show it or able to show it or not.
• 47:18
  That's not the point. But there is some kind of level
• 47:22
  where when you get deeper into it, like when you connect you,
• 47:26
  you feel that and, and it, and it, it causes, it spurs people
• 47:30
  to action. So for you to have found your
• 47:33
  mission in this life, which the way you described it did not
• 47:37
  sound cheesy whatsoever that you were put on this earth for that
• 47:40
  reason. I think that a lot of most
• 47:44
  people can't say a statement like that, which is terrible,
• 47:48
  you know, and, and, and so to be able to like, say that with such
• 47:52
  confidence and like warmth and like heart, I think is yeah,
• 47:58
  just so, so beautiful. Because it's not, it's not even
• 48:00
  like a vocation at that point. It's a yeah.
• 48:02
  It's like a deep mission of purpose that only you can
• 48:06
  fulfill. So, you know, I think the way
• 48:10
  that you speak about the clients that you serve and the, you
• 48:13
  know, like genuine hope that you have not only for that
• 48:17
  particular young person, but their family, right, right.
• 48:20
  The people that that are supporting them behind the
• 48:22
  scenes, you know, it's it's all part of a like, it's all part of
• 48:25
  the context, right, of the relationship that you were
• 48:28
  saying is so fundamental to what you do.
• 48:31
  So, you know, this is yeah, this is like this is we're getting to
• 48:35
  some really good stuff. But actually, you know, this is
• 48:38
  nothing compared to what I'm going to ask you now because we
• 48:41
  are getting towards the end of our conversation.
• 48:43
  And you promised, you promised me a story about La Boo Boo.
• 48:48
  So it's your story because? I showed it to you.
• 48:52
  You did, you showed me two of them.
• 48:54
  So first, so my question, there's two questions, right?
• 48:58
  So the first question, no, there's wasn't that question.
• 49:04
  The the question. It's like a follow up because
• 49:05
  one it's about a recommendation. So normally I do book
• 49:08
  recommendation, movie recommendation, but this this
• 49:12
  time we can do a laboo recommendation.
• 49:14
  So what is a labooboo The. Script right?
• 49:17
  We're not going to give the Leo the same questions.
• 49:19
  I'm kidding. No, no, we won't do that.
• 49:22
  So yeah, tell me what is a labooboo?
• 49:24
  And then also, what is the story that you you said you would
• 49:27
  share about it? OK, well this is what I know
• 49:30
  about Liboo boos. All I know is that there are
• 49:32
  these little toys that I'm showing you right now only you
• 49:35
  can. See it?
• 49:35
  It's a little creature. It's got a face and a.
• 49:37
  Smile, it's soft and fluffy and they made a lot of money, like I
• 49:44
  think over a billion dollars it's like.
• 49:45
  It's in China though, right? Isn't that where it came from?
• 49:47
  So yes, I think it's from a company called Pop Mart.
• 49:50
  Anyways, so as you can see, I bought this La Boo Boo for
• 49:54
  myself at Sawtelle and one of my kiddos gave me this love La Boo
• 50:03
  Boo, and it was a really cute story.
• 50:06
  So I've worked with his sister. Oh my gosh.
• 50:11
  I want to say for six years. And I worked with him for a
• 50:16
  little bit and then I stopped working with him and the family.
• 50:19
  You said, OK, you got to work with him again Because when I
• 50:21
  stopped, he regressed a little bit.
• 50:24
  And so they said, clearly we need you back in his life.
• 50:26
  And I said, and here I am. So we're doing this and we have
• 50:30
  a really fun, playful relationship.
• 50:32
  So he has a dozen of these Laboo boos and he put it on his tennis
• 50:37
  racket, so it's hanging from those strings.
• 50:39
  So when you hold up the tennis racket, you see all these little
• 50:42
  Boo boos kind of swaying, right? It's really cool.
• 50:44
  And I said, Oh my gosh, I like the pink one because the pink 1
• 50:47
  is my favorite color. And he said something along the
• 50:52
  lines of like, of course you like the pink one.
• 50:55
  It's love. And I love you, Sandy.
• 50:58
  You can have it. That's so cute.
• 51:04
  It was so cute. Yeah.
• 51:05
  And I said, Are you sure? Because this is yours.
• 51:08
  And he was. Wait.
• 51:09
  How old is this kid? He's he.
• 51:13
  He just started 4th grade. He just, Oh my God, he's a
• 51:16
  fourth grader. Such a sweetheart he's.
• 51:19
  So sweet. And then he's like, of course.
• 51:22
  So this is apparently they all have, you know, I guess, a
• 51:26
  feeling, right? So this one's love.
• 51:28
  And then there's another one that I like, and that one's
• 51:30
  hope, right? And I'm like, oh, I like hope
• 51:32
  too. Maybe you'll get hope.
• 51:38
  Maybe. Well, he's going to get 14 more
• 51:40
  La Boo boos. And I jokingly said, oh, are you
• 51:45
  going to have a La Boo Boo Christmas tree because this
• 51:47
  family celebrates Christmas. And his eyes lit up because he
• 51:51
  wanted, instead of having Elf on the Shelf, he wanted to have a
• 51:54
  La Boo Boo on the shelf for this year.
• 51:57
  And his parents agreed. And just because of all the
• 52:00
  liboo boos that he has, yeah, I just assumed it was going to be
• 52:05
  a Liboo Christmas. So now that's what he wants to
• 52:08
  do. He wants to decorate his
• 52:09
  Christmas trees, his Christmas tree with liboo boos.
• 52:12
  So. Wow, this is see, this just
• 52:14
  shows the the, the big influence an educator can have on another
• 52:18
  person's life. You know, next thing you know
• 52:20
  what Christmas is now. Liboo Boo, liboo Boo, miss.
• 52:23
  I don't know. Exactly right.
• 52:26
  Yeah, but you know, but thank you for for sharing that, that,
• 52:29
  that cute story because, you know, again, it's like for
• 52:32
  someone to like kind of like welcome you into their world.
• 52:37
  And so you know that for this 4th grader, right, the world of
• 52:40
  like Lubu, I'm sure there's a lot of other interesting, weird,
• 52:42
  quirky stuff that I mean, like 4th grade mind is all over the
• 52:45
  place, which is beautiful. But like, for them to like feel
• 52:47
  comfortable enough to welcome you into that space and then,
• 52:51
  you know, to kind of bounce ideas off of to the point where
• 52:54
  now you're having like a little Boo Boo Christmas tree.
• 52:56
  I mean, like the way that his eyes lit up and I, I, I, I see
• 53:01
  it so vividly. And like I've had this also
• 53:03
  where you would say one thing and that sparks one like one
• 53:06
  idea or it sparks a certain reaction.
• 53:08
  And, and like that kind of like electricity is, yeah, it's like
• 53:13
  so powerful, right? You want to see that happen in
• 53:16
  every single session, right? Or in every single class or
• 53:18
  whatever interaction you have. But we often find that, you
• 53:23
  know, standard interactions and in the world kind of devoid of
• 53:28
  that. And so, you know, it definitely
• 53:30
  is apparent that like the work that you do is to kind of bring
• 53:34
  that, you know, excitement, curiosity, you know, all of the
• 53:39
  the powerful emotions to the fore, because that's really what
• 53:43
  gets people, you know, excited about living and like, shouldn't
• 53:46
  we all be doing that? Right?
• 53:48
  Exactly. Doesn't have to be Libooboo,
• 53:49
  although I'm sure you could make a compelling argument.
• 53:52
  Why get a Liboobin will change your life, right.
• 53:55
  Oh. Gosh, I don't care about.
• 53:57
  That, yeah, OK, no, maybe a little too much.
• 53:59
  But maybe if we add some glitter and sparkle, we could.
• 54:02
  Oh, fun. Well, you know, I, I, I think,
• 54:07
  you know, with that recommendation to have a liboo
• 54:10
  in your life, you know, I just really wanted to kind of like,
• 54:15
  yeah, just end by by thanking you.
• 54:18
  Thank you so much, Sandy, for for sharing the space, sharing a
• 54:21
  little bit about your own background, why you're so
• 54:23
  passionate about supporting, fostering, cultivating young
• 54:28
  people and bringing out their full potential.
• 54:31
  It, it, it's very evident just even by like the tone of your
• 54:35
  voice that you get very excited about talking about your clients
• 54:38
  and you know, your hope and your love for them and what they can
• 54:43
  achieve. So, yeah.
• 54:45
  And then also thank you for just grappling with like what globe
• 54:48
  being a global citizen means like for you.
• 54:50
  I think, you know, being a person of like, you know, like
• 54:53
  the kind of like contributive spirit who has a, a deeper
• 54:57
  purpose and wants to do good in the world is a great
• 55:00
  articulation for someone who just started thinking about it
• 55:04
  as soon as I asked them the question.
• 55:05
  So I I wanted to give the last word to you.
• 55:08
  Any final thought or like send off it could be very short.
• 55:11
  Whatever you'd like to share as we kind of wrap up our
• 55:14
  conversation. Oh.
• 55:15
  My gosh, well, I think just be happy.
• 55:18
  Just keep looking for the buds in your life and keep looking at
• 55:22
  the roses too.