Who Is Your Tom?

Friday I had the honor to serve as the keynote speaker for Cleveland State University's TRIO Annual Graduation Celebration. The TRIO program is designed to help first-generation college and/or low-income students progress toward graduation.

The speaker before me was a graduating student named Koya. Years ago, Koya stepped away from her pursuit of her bachelors degree to raise her son. During her remarks, Koya talked about her current boss Tom, who hired her with one condition: that she would return to school to complete her bachelor's degree. So here she was Friday evening, in her mid 30’s, back to complete what she had started. She pointed to Tom, who came to the event, as she told her story. Her son, now a high school student, was in the audience to witness his mother receive a standing ovation as his mother finished her speech. 

We all need a few “Toms” in our life. The people that will hold us accountable to make ourselves better. The people that won’t allow us to let our potential remain untapped. The people that will show up to celebrate us.

I’m not sure what we can do to increase the number of “Toms” in our life. And because life isn’t fair, some people receive plenty of “Toms” while others don’t seem to have any. Here is one thing I do know: we can all serve as a “Tom” for someone else, because there are always people in need of a “Tom.”