In Light Of 50 Years Of Bondage

Search For Role Models You Can Look Up To And People Who Take An Interest In Your Career. But Here's An Important Warning: You Don't Have To Have Mentors Who Look Like You. Had I Been Waiting For A Black, Female Soviet Specialist Mentor, I Would Still Be Waiting. Most Of My Mentors Have Been Old White Men, Because They Were The Ones Who Dominated My Field.

When I Went Off To College, I Was Expecting To Be A Concert Musician. In Music School I Heard All Of These Kids Who Were Just Unbelievable. And I Understand That You Can Be Very, Very Good, But There's Something That Separates Very, Very Good From Great, And I Knew That I Wasn't Great.

It Is A Dangerous Thing To Ask Why Someone Else Has Been Given More. It Is Humbling - And Indeed Healthy - To Ask Why You Have Been Given So Much.

The Best Armor Against Everything Around You Is To Be Well Educated, To Work Hard, To Be Twice As Good As If You Had To Be, To Do Languages And Culture Better.

There Is Nothing Better Than Being In A Classroom With Really, Really Brilliant Students, And Opening Up New Worlds To Them. That's What I Love Doing.