When You Work Entirely from Home, You Miss Moments Like This
A reminder the best moments in life involve being with humans
27 people from 21 different countries were frozen to their seats. Syrians. Costa Ricans. Russians. The only sign of life was the tears flowing down their cheeks. When they finally unthawed and could breathe again, the first thing they did was run to the woman standing in front of them.
She’d just done the bravest thing I’d ever witnessed.
Six weeks ago, I walked into a classroom for the first time in two years. The task: spend 25 hours over the next few weeks helping a group of shy MBA students step into their voice and own their stories.
I’ve done this kind of work before. But I was rusty. Zoomed-out. For the hour leading up to the first class, my mind was jumping and my palms were drenched with sweat.
But then the first student walked in. A 28-year-old from India. I liked her immediately. Warm demeanor. Her smile put me at ease.
Lebanese. Turkish. Scottish. Dutch. Brazilian. German. More new faces came piling in. “Would I be able to connect with them?” I worried. “Since when did graduate students look so damn young!”
