Chapter 5: Daring to Lead: A Story of Early Leadership Development

I kicked the radiator in frustration; it was the dead of winter and freezing cold in the Buffalo hotel room. Exhausted from a long day of teaching followed by my flight, I searched for another blanket and then opened my laptop to anxiously key through the slides of my PowerPoint for what seemed like the millionth time. The next morning would be my first solo presentation at a professional mathematics teaching conference. Letting my insecurities get the best of me, I spent the next few hours unable to sleep. My mind racing, I pondered the same questions again and again: What if nobody comes to my presentation? What if I make a mistake? What if someone asks me a math question I can’t answer? Who do I think I am? Why won’t the heat work?!