Chapter 23 - Passing the Torch
With my career advancing into senior leadership at the financial firm, I began dedicating a portion of my time to mentoring young college interns from working-class backgrounds—kids who, like me years ago, stared at college textbooks and wondered if the door of opportunity would ever open for them.
One afternoon, a sharp, nervous intern named Leo sat across my mahogany desk, struggling through a complex financial compliance model. He shoved his laptop back, rubbing his eyes in sheer frustration.
"I can't do this," Leo muttered, his voice cracking with teenage self-doubt. "I'm dropping this certification track. It's too complicated."
I paused, smiled softly, and remembered a dented kitchen table, a steaming mug of black coffee, and a calloused hand sliding a textbook back across the laminate surface.
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I reached across my desk, tapped the corner of his laptop screen, and said the exact words I needed to hear back then: "Read the question again, buddy. We’re not quitting tonight. We’ll figure it out together."
Leo blinked, stunned, before a small smile crept onto his face. And right there in my high-rise office, just like in our old apartment, we rolled up our sleeves and got to work.
