What Kept Me from Making the Biggest Mistake of My Life

If you are like me, you probably owe your success to your education.

The scary thought for me is how dangerously close I came to missing out on getting an education – and missing out on the opportunities that it opened after I earned my degree.

But I was lucky.

As I was about to make the biggest mistake of my life, someone intervened and pointed me in the right direction. Which is why when I read about low college graduation rates, I wonder how many people would have a college degree today had a hero intervened in their lives like it happened in mine. Here’s what happened.

A well-meaning but near-sighted counselor

Back in high school, when I told a career counselor that I wanted to become an engineer, he looked at my financial situation (my parents and I were recent Cuban immigrants) and my record (I was struggling with English) and recommended that I become a mechanic instead. And, you know what? I listened to him. I actually stopped going to regular high-school classes and started to take courses to become an aviation mechanic. But then, my grandmother, my abuela, arrived from Cuba and asked me how I was doing.

Enter my Hero

My grandmother was a strong woman. Back in Cuba, she had been a teacher, a poet, and raised seven children. She knew the value of a good education. So when I told her I wanted to become an engineer but that I was training as a mechanic instead, I could see her fiery nature come to life.

“Ralph, what you are doing does not make sense,” she said. “You’re telling me you want to become an engineer but you’re training to become a mechanic? 

Now, there is nothing wrong with being a mechanic. It’s just that my dream was to become an engineer – and she spotted the problem right away. Then she gave me advice that I have followed the rest of my life. "Don’t let anyone put limitations on what you can achieve. If you want to become an engineer, you can be an engineer,” she said. I listened to her. I did a control-alt-delete on the counselor’s advice, and the rest, as they say, is history.

Success is not a Solo Sport

I believe that no one reaches success alone. No matter how hard you worked at your career, along the way someone influenced you—whether overtly, like my grandmother, or by inspiring you with their example. As much as I value my grandmother’s advice, I’m even more grateful for showing me what a single person -a hero - can do to help a young person achieve their full potential.

Over the years I tried to pay it forward so that her advice did not end with me. I found it immensely satisfying. So, I wanted to share three ways to make a dramatic, positive impact in a young person’s life and become a hero.

1. Serve as a role model – young people identify with role models based on shared backgrounds and experiences. Early in my life I viewed Roberto Goizueta, the former CEO of Coca-Cola, as a role model. Why? He was from Cuba. He immigrated to America and rose all the way to the top of one best companies in the world. I found a lot of similarities in our backgrounds and our personal journeys. He gave me hope that if he could achieve success perhaps I could as well. Your own unique background and experiences can serve as an inspiration to others, specially to young people. Find a way to tell your story and inspire others to achieve their full potential.

2. Become a mentor – I’m big into mentoring, which is why I work closely with organizations like Junior Achievement Worldwide. There are many other organizations that are doing great work in youth development. Find one that you like and make a difference. Your personal advice and guidance can make a huge difference in a young person’s life. Keep in mind that when you change the trajectory of a young person’s life, it impacts them and their families for generations.

3. Help young people envision their future - Sometimes young people can’t grasp what their future might look like with a good education. I always enjoy interacting with students during Job Shadow Days sponsored by Junior Achievement. I’ll never forget the faces on two young students when they got out of the elevator to come to my office as part of their job shadow experience. They stood looking at the window on 20th floor for several minutes before I could get them to come inside my office. It turns out they had never seen the world from 20 stories up. That morning they saw the world from a different perspective. Without me having to articulate it, at that moment they grasped what the future might be like for them if they stayed in school got a good education. 

 Who was your hero? How did they influence your life?