Laura Stewart | Storyteller

Hi, my name is Ellie. My birthday is on Valentine’s Day. I get lots of chocolate. People get really sad because they’re single. I’m like, I’m having a party!

I really like how confident I am in myself. I’m almost surprised by it sometimes. It’s good to be sure of who I am and sometimes that’s intimidating to people. I think not pretending to be someone else gives me confidence. I like being who I am and being proud of it.

When I was coming to college, I had lots of things I was considering to do. I thought I needed to pick something where I know I could make a career, or something I know I’m good at. So I was like I’m good at special education. In the back of my mind, I knew I wanted to do something cooler. I kind of wanted to be a missionary. I was always thinking I can’t do that. That’s for other people. That’s too hard. Last term I switched my major and it was one of the best feelings of my life. I was like, you know what I can do this!

I want to go to places where language is spoken but not written down and create a written language around those spoken languages. It’s a big goal, and it’s still intimidating, but I think I can do it.

One of my favorite quotes one of my teachers told me when I graduated eighth grade was, “Ellie, remember to keep your head up and your shoes tied.” Keep your head up and be confident and be proud of who you are, but keep your shoes tied and make sure you’re prepared.

Hi, my name is Bailey. I like being able to be both an introvert and an extrovert. I love being with people and hanging out with everyone, but then I also love reading books and just making music by myself. Today I was just reading “To Kill a Mockingbird” for two hours straight by myself. Right before that I had been hanging out with people for 11 hours straight.

One time, my advisor for Ad Foundations told me (air quotes), “I couldn’t handle taking Biology.” He said he would recommend an easier science class. Then I didn’t take it. It was really anticlimactic. But I was really offended that he said I couldn’t do it, so I didn’t like him anymore. If someone says that I can’t do something, I always want to prove them wrong, because I’m really competitive.

The most impactful verse in my life is 2 Timothy 1:7: “For God has not given us a spirit of timidity, but a spirit of power, love, and self­-discipline.” I came across that verse in high school and it was at a time where God was making me into a leader and I was kind of shy before that. I know crazy, me being shy! (Laughs) Not super shy, but very intimidated in situations. Then God just reminded me that I’m made to be fierce and bold. Those three words (power, love, and self­-discipline) have shaped me. Power: I don’t need to be afraid. He’s made me to do crazy, cool things. 
Love: He’s made me to love people. 

Self­-discipline: I get to choose what to do and not to do and stick to it. I love it! It’s my fierce, go get them verse! Whenever I’m feeling down, I’m like, yeah! Power, love, and self­-discipline! (Throws fist in air) We can do this!

Hi, my name is Preston. I moved here and was walking everywhere and realized that it takes too long. So, I bought this little gem with my graduation money and she’s treated me well. Even though I might throw and kick her, I still love her. (Picks up skateboard and kisses it.) I bring it on airplanes when I go back home.

I grew up in Southern California at Manhattan Beach. The lifestyle here is a lot more mellow than it is in Southern California. There it’s just going, going, going. I love it up here. A lot of good vibes. I came to school here because I didn’t want to be too far away from my parents, because I love them so dearly. It’s been interesting spending the past couple of months on my own. It makes me grow up which is what I need to do. I’m just too lazy above all (chuckles). I’m just a slave to it, but I don’t want to be. I made a good decision. I love Oregon.

I always wanted to be one of those people on ESPN who did the sports broadcasting. The crazy person who is on the panel and stuff like that. I’ve talked to so many kids my age who want to do the same thing, so there are just too many people who do what I want to do. I’m a realist so if it might not happen, then I won’t try to do that. I have connections with musical management and stuff. It’s a hobby of mine, and so I wanted to see if I could do it for a living. It makes me happy. 
Optimism is key in life. Take a step back and look at what you’ve got. I’m very lucky. Very blessed. Surrounded myself with a lot of good people.

Hi, my name is Susan. I think I’m a very caring person. I feel like people find me easy to talk with, and I’m very empathetic to whatever it is they’re dealing with. Always fulfilling and always a learning opportunity. 

I got a degree in public administration. I was never ever good with statistics. Had a tutor and was glad that I got a D-. That was the lowest grade I had ever got in school. And I was just going to take it and go! And that was years ago and I still remember it. 

Don’t judge a book by its cover. So, when I went to Tulsa, Oklahoma, a lot of people had a lot of preconceived notions about what a young person from Southern California would be like and they were really surprised when I wasn’t wearing birkenstocks and eating fruits and nuts and talking like a Valley Girl at the time. And vise versa. Overall they’re just regular people like anyone else.

Hi, my name is Amelia. When I meet someone, I’m kind of an open book. You can come up to me and start asking questions. I keep talking and people feel really comfortable around me. I like hearing about other people as well. Understanding other people and being around other people, I just love that.

There are definitely stages in my life where I told people what I want to do and they would say it’s kind of a hard goal. For example, I’ve always loved to write and to do art. I’ve always loved expressing myself creatively. People would be like you can’t really do anything with writing or art. Or you need to go into being a doctor or a teacher or something that’s useful. Specifically, people would say you can’t achieve this goal, stick to smaller things. Well, I’ve done some things that I’m really proud of. I’m doing advertising, I’m a copywriter. I love to think of ideas and express ideas.

Now I’m just thinking of advertising slogans. I always keep the just do it in my mind. Even if I think something isn’t possible, I do it anyways. Anything that I feel like might hold me back, I just do it anyway. I think the experience of doing something and failing is better than not doing anything at all and regretting it. So, just do it.

Hi, my name is Peter. I define success as accomplishing goals or objectives you set out for. For example, going to school for a degree. Success would be completing that degree. Or for me, the goal of retiring young would be success. Pretty simple. The goal was originally to retire when I was 30, but now I’m 32. I could be there at the end of the year. 

You can’t achieve a goal unless you create it. That’s the first thing is to create the goal. People don’t ever set a goal, so they don’t set realistic goals to accomplish it. It could be anything for anyone. I’ve had people who thought my goals are crazy. They don’t know how to respond to it because they don’t think it’s realistic. 

Inspiration definitely comes from motivational books that I read; people who are successful. That gives me a reason to push harder. I think it’s being able to take any situation that happens and turn it into something that can be beneficial. It takes practice and being positive. If you’re always looking for opportunity, you’ll find it. If you don't think the opportunity is there then you won't find it. You’ll find what you’re looking for. Setting your objectives higher than what you think is realistic is key. If you shoot really high then you will end up better than the people who try to be realistic about things.

Hi, my name is Brian. I think my superpower is impeccable memory for weird and random things. I remember funny details about people. If I’m not super close with a person and I remember a personal detail about them then it kind of weirds people out. So I have to filter what I say. It can help, but it’s a gift and a curse.

I want to be a published author. I’m working on a novel right now called “No Regrets.” I finished one, and I’m going to start a memoir about my dad. He passed away in November. I’m using my memories to chart my relationship with my dad. He had a lot of wisdom to share with his kids and some of his proverbs and wisdom I’ve shared with friends.

Life is sweet and sour. It’s easy to forget how blessed I am in a lot of ways. The sour part would be thinking about my dad. It is the toughest thing I’ve had to go through. I think the lessons from him are the sweetness. I’m blessed to have had a great father because some people don’t grow up with fathers at all. He was just a wise man. The best gift is to love. I hadn’t realized how hard that can be but how rewarding it is at the same time. It’s completely worth it. Love is something you never regret.

Hi, my name is Courtney. I feel like I'll let life take me anywhere, but Oregon is my home. I love that I'm not conceited and I'm super humble. (Laughs) I'm like the most humble. But actually, I would say one thing I like about myself is that I feel like I'm an idea person. It would take lot to zap all of my creative energy. 

I'm good at helping others meet their full potential. I don't necessarily need that for me. I will push myself. When I entered college, I didn't have a very good insight into who I was. All of the things that I like to do I didn't follow through with them. Now having failed really really badly I feel like I know how to utilize the things I'm good at. Sometimes what we want and who we are doesn't really align. For me the perfect success is who I am and what I want to do colliding. That means communicating visually, creating moments, like capturing moments. I'm a visual communicator. 

One word to describe me would be driven, or moving, or purposeful, or forward. I feel like there is not enough time in the day to do all of my ideas. I gotta eat and gotta sleep, but I get wrapped up in it all.

Hi, my name is Ali. I moved from Kuwait. It's like 25 hours by plane. Exactly the opposite end of the world. Yeah, halfway across the world. I wanted a small city. Everyone is really friendly here.

 
I am a University of Oregon student. I'm majoring in accounting, and I'm in my senior year. I got used to the university life. I kind of don't like change, so graduating scares me. Like it's just going to be different. I'm also in the process of working on what I want to do exactly. I do have some ideas of projects in mind. I just want to find something I would love. In terms of success, I really want to start my own business and ultimately find the work that I like so I wouldn't consider it work. Being your own boss, applying your morals and ethics into it. Something you made from zero. It would be something I'm passionate about, so I would keep doing it instead of just finding an office job and being stuck at it. 

Life is short make the best of it. Just have fun. Value your time.

Hi, my name is Delancey. I don’t know any secrets to life. I have no magic answers for you. Stuff just happens and you just have to roll with the punches. I think we try really hard to do what society wants us to do and it’s really painful and depressing because we’ll never measure up to perfection. We are just not like that. I think learning God loves me for me and accepting that is really hard. For me it’s a battle. It’s one worth fighting.

I had a lot of time to think about this while I was in China. I was really hit hard with depression. It was totally the Lord who showed me who I was. Things that make me like me: when I draw or create something and my ability to travel well. The fact that it’s easy for me to get to know people that I’ve never met and I don’t get super stressed. I got to travel through Malaysia by myself for a week. It was awesome and it was all on me. It really made me proud of myself.

I’m really excited about summer coming and getting to hike more and go to a bunch of beautiful places.

Hi, my name is Stephanie. I am a loyal person. Like loyal to my family, loyal to my friends, work, and church. I think that's a good quality. My best friend and I have been best friends since kindergarten. So, so far so good! 

I moved to Eugene when I was five. We moved in with my grandma after my grandpa had a heart attack and died. We went to school here, and I haven't left. I love Eugene. I love the community. My family has always been super supportive. My mom was always like, "You can do whatever you want. Whatever you put your mind to." She really wanted me to be a lawyer. There was no way!

Sometimes I give myself deadlines that aren't realistic. Like, you know, I wanted to be married and have kids at 24 because that's what my parents did. No one has ever said, "You can't do that." I guess if they did, I did it to prove them wrong. (Softly giggles)

I am willing to go with the flow. My advice to others would be to be at peace with what you're doing and trust you're doing everything in your power to be who you want to be.

Hi, my name is Katie. I have an easy time seeing other people's perspectives and understanding them, which I think makes it easier for me to make friends. I try really hard to relate to people at work or school even though we may have nothing in common. I feel like my purpose is to love people for who they are and I have to figure out who they are to love them.

I’ve been told many times that I couldn’t do something. When I first wanted to get into the dental program, which was since middle school because I’ve always had that dream, anyone I would talk to always told me that it was going to be so hard. I basically had all people I trusted telling me that I wasn’t going to be able to do it. Regardless, I tried because I really wanted it. I just had to forget what they said and push forward. I knew that I wanted to do it for myself and not for anyone else. I did think getting into the program was a big accomplishment. The day I got in I was so thankful I knew that I didn’t do it. The Lord totally provided that for me. I can’t wait to show people what I can do with what I was given. And now, I’m in it! (Smirks) At graduation, I’m going to hold my diploma and say told you so.

Someone else once said to me, and I say it to myself every day, “I hope by the end of my life I did everything the Lord asked me to do.” That’s it. That’s what I really hope to do.

Hi, my name is Jay. I like my sense of humor. A good survival skill, good tool. I like that in people. For my job I do freelance writing for educational finance; test prep, curriculum design, stuff like that. Sometimes I write short stories. It has its fun parts to it but it does have its technical side.

I hope to finish my Doctorate in education and start my PHD. I sort of put that on the back burner when our youngest was born. That’s something I’d like to finish. It’s sort of a lofty goal but doable.

I’m really into alternative education. Making room for difference and diversity in education. That’s where a lot of my research has been and that’s where my passion is in the field. The analogy that I use whenever I teach on the subject is that we live in a society that has dozens of different kinds of breakfast cereals, but when it comes down to school one size fits all. Now I think we could have a lot more diversity out there. Even alternative education is an alternative way to do the same thing and it could be so much more diverse. That’s what I would like to see. Hopefully it will happen and I would like to help that happen in some small way. It’s a group effort.

In about sixth grade my teacher brought in a piece of art his friend had made. One of the little characters was giving a book to someone and telling them what it was about. There was a little speech bubble that said, “In diversity lies freedom.” That was my favorite thing about that poster. That has echoed over the years.

Hi, my name is Jian. I’m 22 years old. I’m a four year college student. I’m from a big population province called Henan in China. I study here and my parents are in China and they have limited control. I can take myself everywhere I want or do anything I want. I’m pretty happy with my decision, because I made a lot of friends and I enjoy life here. The education here is not only better but you enjoy another culture. It gives you a different view of things than you had before. It’s also about experience. You can leave yourself alone in a new city, in a new environment, and everything is new. That’s kind of a challenge. I likes challenges. This one is the biggest one I’ve ever done.

I would travel around the world. I want to see different sceneries. All snow, all sun, and mountains. If possible, I want to try mountain climbing. That would be so fun! If I have money and time and energy I want to try climbing Mount Everest. Life is short why not try doing everything you want to do.

Hi, my name is Kathleen. I go by Katy. I am a dog owner. She gets a lot of walking time. We usually do an adventure every day. Then I go to work.

I am what you would call a “gym rat.” I used to compete in racquetball for 10 years. I was always training and playing. I went to school to get my exercise and movement science degree. I work with people with physical injuries. One woman who is 25 or 26 went back to school this fall. She had a head­-on collision on her motorcycle with a car. She had a stroke when she was 20. I watched her over about five years. It was hard and challenging to work with her, but it’s amazing that she’s going back to school. It’s cool to give people tools to use in their own lives.

I typically react to being told I can't do something, by working hard to achieve whatever it is. I call it my inner James Dean. My goal is to go back to school again and become a physical therapist this time.

Hi, my name is Laura. I like to smile and laugh a lot. It brings other people joy. I get compliments on my laugh and that makes me like it more. I didn’t think it was that big of a deal until people said they liked it, and then I liked it too.

I have oh so many aspirations! (laughs) I have so many ideas. I want to tell stories. To tell stories is to capture the essence of a person. I want to leave an impact on people. If I taught them something about themselves or if they taught me that’s what I want to get out of it.

I don’t think I have any regrets. My Young Life leader told me once that she never had regrets. She explained that she learned from her experience and so in that way it wasn’t a regret, it was a learning experience. So, that’s how I see life. It’s just a learning experience instead of a stack of regrets.

My catchphrases? Well freshman year of college I think it was, “Let’s go on an adventure.” Then, sophomore year it was, “Why not?” This year, “I have no clue. Live life. Keep going. One breath, one step at a time.” Photo Credit: Yzmari Duran

Hi, my name is Madeline. It’s my name. I go by Madeline. Really, you can call me Maddie. People know me as Maddie. I’m just never sure.

My parents were always really encouraging. Growing up I wanted to be an author, which as career choices go is very unpractical. My dad always supported me in my writing. I turned to journalism, which I guess is more practical. I think I was always worried that I wouldn’t graduate college because it always seemed difficult and far away. But now I only have four months left so that’s probably going to happen.

Learned so much. I just keep thinking about the cliches. Like you can never have too much patience or grace in any given situation. People hurt you and get annoying and you’ll fail, but if you have patience and grace you can have the power to stand up and try again and forgive.

Did you know we can think 400 words a minute but only say 125?

 Hi, my name is Mai. I was born in Copenhagen, Denmark to Danish parents. I’ve moved from Denmark, Amsterdam, California, London, back to California and then Denmark. I graduated high school in Denmark and now I live here. I went to four different high schools. So, I actually did five years of high school. I had really huge issues with moving around, because when we moved from Amsterdam to California I didn’t speak any English. I developed social anxiety. I got some help with it and now I’m getting better. Because of it I got terrified of change. Change is exciting to me whereas it used to be really scary.

I’ve seen the world from a lot of different angles at a young age. I’ve taken away an awareness I don’t think I would’ve had if I had just grown up in Denmark; a tiny little country in Europe. People are different and everyone has their own reason for thinking the way they do. Everyone’s opinion is valid regardless of what it is.

Amy Kohler: “Try to keep your mind open to possibilities and your mouth closed on matters you don’t know about. Limit your always and your nevers.” I’m very open to being wrong and I think if more people do that it would make people more productive. Limiting your always and your nevers is very important.

Hi, my name is Meagan. I like my ability to overcome obstacles.

I have been dancing since I was five. In high school, I got some head injuries from it. It’s really hard for me. The thing that I love (dancing) is the thing that has affected me the most. My concussions really affect the way my brain works and my daily life. I’m very scatter brained and not as articulate as I would like to be. Sometimes I really feel like a failure or I feel different than other people.

I’ve realized there is a reason behind my struggles and I don’t have to deal with it on my own. It took a lot of hard work to get where I am now. I really had to push myself and not let my head trauma define me as a person. I can achieve just as much as anyone else. I just have to put in a little more effort. I’m okay with that because I’m really motivated and excited for the future. I really have a lot of goals for myself. I really want to make a difference in the world.

Hi, my name is Michael. I'm extremely busy. I'm 34 years old. I'm raising three kids singly. I have a 15 year old boy, 12 year old girl, and 10 year old boy. I go to the YMCA every day.

I work full-time and do a lot of service work. I really like that and building relationships and stuff.

I can share this, but um, I'm trying to stay humble. I feel like one of the main reasons I go there (the Y) is because I see a lot of people who are physically unable to do something. So after my surgery I feel like I could just walk in there and maybe people could see, I don't know, someone doing it. Because I just had surgery in 2014. (Pulling up his pant leg, he reveals his tattooed, prosthetic leg.) So I just go in there to sort of make an appearance. I'm riding a bike, I'm swimming, but I just want to run.

Hi, my name is Nate. International studies is my main thing. I know every country by heart. I can point to it on a map.

In my freshman year of high school, my global studies teacher challenged my entire class to an online quiz where we had to name all of the countries in the world in 15 minutes. He said he had never been beaten. So I took that as a challenge. So later in the year, all of us went up against him. This was back before they recognized Palestine as a country so there were 196. I got 193 of them. My history teacher got 100 on the button.

There have definitely been times when I’ve told myself that I couldn’t do something. One time sticks out in my mind. During my sophomore year, I was playing in the Metropolitan Youth Symphony in Portland. We were playing a piece called, “The Twilight of the Gods." I was in this really involved percussion part. Towards the beginning I had this really weird vibraphone solo. I was having trouble sight reading it and I told myself I couldn't do it. Thankfully my mom beat the sense into me and got me practicing it. I didn’t do too badly either. If it weren’t for my mom, I probably would’ve up and quit that part. That was one heck of a fun song. The music sounded amazing. I loved my part, it was so involved. That’s still a happy memory for me.

Hi, my name is Paul. I've been in Eugene for...well, I was adopted from India. My mom adopted me through the Holt International organization. I went to Kennedy Middle School and Churchill High School. I've moved around the country. I've done it all! If I had money, I would move to Portland. Hope to someday in the future go back.

I'm enthusiastic. My grandpa taught me to just embrace people no matter where they are. I wouldn't be in ministry if it wasn't for him. I originally wanted to be an attorney. My mother was a lawyer and a single parent. I appreciate her telling me that law wasn't suited for me. 

And here I am. I'm the next generation to leave a legacy in my family because my grandparents did and so is my mother. Then when I get married, my children's generation and so forth and so forth. I would like people to remember that I know my purpose on this earth: to love one another.

Hi, my name is Renee. I'm not perfect and when I make a mistake (ex: hurt someone) I don't shy away from working it out. I like it when people come right out and tell me so I can make it right. I never do the same thing again.

I’m very determined to achieve whatever I put my mind to. My goals have changed over my life. I have been able to achieve so many things (with God's help of course). I have a degree in education. I am happily married (12 years) with four kids. My husband just achieved his dream job. I'm going back to school to become an RN, and I'm loving it. 
I think my biggest dreams at this point are to raise our children the best we can to love God and love people, and to continue choosing my husband every day, serve God, and be in our community serving people the best we can together.

A quote that defines who I am: “I am strong because I know my weaknesses. I am beautiful because I'm aware of my flaws. I am fearless because I learned to recognize illusion from reality. I am wise because I learn from my mistakes, and I can laugh because I have known sadness.”

Hi, my name is Marissa. I've been living in Eugene for almost ten years. I'm super good at puns and I usually can get someone to laugh if I have a conversation with them. I like to see if people smile. If I can make other people happy it makes me happy. I feel like that's sort of a very Miss America sort of thing to say but it's true. If I see someone struggling, then I want to help.

I remember when I was in middle school whenever I found money on the ground I would just give it to someone else and it would make their day. And that makes me feel like I have worth. Yeah, that's what makes me happy. When I know that I as able to help someone else. It doesn't have to be a big thing. I can't be Oprah and give everyone a new car. 

What was my childhood dream? Ever since I was little, I wanted to be an actress. I am not good at acting. I had been seriously thinking I'm definitely going to be an actress up until I was 16 or so. That was my happy place for a while. Everyone said I didn't have what it takes. I didn't have the money to pay for failure. That was when I realized I should do something realistic and something I'm good at. I'm okay at Japanese. It's probably my second biggest passion. Sometimes I get sad thinking my life is just a compromise. But a least I'll have money!

Hi, my name is Solomon. I like to play sports. My favorite sport is basketball, because I think it’s fun to play and I like learning the fundamentals of the game and stuff like that. I like playing every game. Well, most of the games are super fun or playing close games. I started playing in kindergarten. If I could do anything...maybe play in the NBA. I want to do it, but I don’t know if I can do it. Maybe, like, I can’t get to that level. I have to try and work a ton to get there.

My brother is funny and nice. (Smiles) Sometimes kind of annoying. But a really good, nice person. I like being the older brother, because I get to go first. Teach him how to do stuff. My mom and dad are the most inspirational people in my life. They’re always nice and caring. They help others make good life choices, because they made those choices. 

Treat people the way you want to be treated. And like, help other people.

Hi, my name is Natalie. In my family I was always known as the smart one who could cook. I am a stay at home mom with my kiddo and I basically needed some sort of outlet other than just sitting at home. I didn't have any really great hobbies other than cooking. I cooked for my family starting in junior high. My mom didn't like to cook. I would basically take over different elements of cooking for my family and I grew up in a big family. I was the oldest of 7 and then we grew to 11 people.

When I left for college, I still had my job at Starbucks and I kind of kept that job all the way through. Then I started hanging out with the cooks who ran the kitchen at the Mackenzie Study Center. I thought they were the coolest people in the world. They made challah bread and beautiful soups from scratch.

It was just this whole other world of like you made this really good food and it can be inexpensive. You can feed it to lots of people. It's something a normal person can do. It's something I could see myself doing and it made everybody love you. I could give my friends a lot of love by cooking for them. Not that that was the whole point, but like it was this really cool, quiet way to take care of friends and loved ones and people at large.

I think we all have that part of is us that just wants to help people. It's really cool because I could get paid and help people at the same time. It's allowed me to have this sense of pride about what I do and passion for what I do on a daily basis. It provides for my family with a good life and a happy life.

Hi, my name is Lindsey. I don’t live with a lot of fear. It’s not something that had been prominent in my life until I was 20 weeks pregnant with my first child. All of my un-named fears were crashing in on me: fear for my son, fear for myself. If he survived, which he might not, he would likely live a short life full of surgeries and medical interventions, pain and confusion. Suffering, fearful and broken hearted, that was where I was.

And yet not alone. My husband was a tremendous partner in those terrible months. Our friends and family were so brave to face the unknown with us. When our son Samuel was born on October 23, 2009, he seemed just like any other ordinary healthy baby. And that was because he was. Despite all medical evidence to the contrary, hundreds of ultrasound images, he was born with none of the conditions he was diagnosed with. And so I tell my son Samuel that he is an oak of righteousness and in him I see the splendor of God every day.

As I go through life I am in a constant state of dreaming and experiencing dreams come true. Sure some of them don’t come to pass, but each and every door that I have walked through has brought me to new and interesting experiences.

Hi, I'm Jessica and this is Tadd. 

Tadd: We've been married 25...

Jessica: It'll be 26 years in June.

Tadd: Yeah, 26 years.

Jessica: I think we've really gotten more in unison with what we want. We don't want a big old house. We just want simple, and we want to be healthy. I think when you're in your thirties you work towards getting all this stuff. Then you're just like, why are we doing that? Why are we striving for all that stuff and security? I think that God doesn't want us to feel secure in all those things. I think he wants is to be secure in Him. As Americans it's really hard to avoid wanting that security. 

Tadd: Yeah, I think we've always been together with things. We always talk a lot and always share our different dreams to do this or that. I'm a dreamer so that's a big subject matter. I want to do everything that I haven't done in regards to learning languages, to building boats to...

Jessica: ...learning all arts and crafts, making a rug in India, carving out a boat in Greece, making pasta in Italy, or making wine in France. Tadd would like to do all of this. And more! (Both laugh)

Jessica: My dreams are much more practical. Sometimes I wake up in the middle of the night at 2am and then I just lay in bed and think about my ideas. Then I wake up in the morning and wonder what was I thinking? It was so dumb. (Laughs)

Tadd: Another what I call "smile moment."

Hi, my name is Ryan. Well, (laughs) I'm not a morning person, I'll admit that. So once I've had my coffee...I find that motivation slowly. I've only been alive for 25 years. I like to think that I still learn every day. 

When I was a freshman in college I had the persona because of football, that the success of the team was my success instead of the team's success. It's still something I have to work on. I have confidence in what I do, but it's a fine line of being overconfident and not being confident enough. Going to grad school was definitely a turning point for that. Saying I really don't know a lot.

It's okay to be wrong and it's okay to fail, because sometimes you learn more from failure than you do from success. For me it's all about alright, well, might as well give it a shot. I think everyone has those moments of, "Can I do this?" I still get those moments. 
It comes down to the overall goal of helping someone if they need it. If the opportunity presents itself I can leave my mark whether that's on a big thing or a little thing. Like saying hi to someone.