0:00:18.841,0:00:20.960
I've loved school.

0:00:20.960,0:00:24.012
Until the time I took my first test.

0:00:24.012,0:00:26.424
I loved my teachers and I loved my friends.

0:00:26.424,0:00:29.680
But I hated reading. It made my head hurt.

0:00:29.680,0:00:33.098
Specialists started pointing me [br]out of my classroom

0:00:33.098,0:00:35.594
and labeled me "reading and writing disabled."

0:00:35.594,0:00:39.261
And for years I was totally freaked out [br]and anxious about school.

0:00:39.261,0:00:42.313
And in middle school it got worse.

0:00:42.313,0:00:44.546
Until I started home school.

0:00:44.546,0:00:46.894
That's when I realized I just needed [br]an alternative way to learn.

0:00:49.242,0:00:51.591
So I studied ancient civilizations in Egypt,

0:00:51.591,0:00:53.897
biology on safaris in Kenya,

0:00:53.897,0:00:58.126
and real life math at grocery stores, [br]currency exchanges on Craigslist.

0:00:58.126,0:01:02.420
After homeschooling, [br]my grade point average came up,

0:01:02.420,0:01:06.265
my self esteem came back [br]and I felt empowered.

0:01:06.265,0:01:09.746
And once I became responsible [br]for my own time management,

0:01:09.746,0:01:11.570
and I kinda got used to that,

0:01:11.570,0:01:14.369
I couldn't imagine a future [br]on somebody else's schedule.

0:01:14.809,0:01:17.815
So last year I created my own business.

0:01:17.815,0:01:19.842
The idea came to me in Liverpool

0:01:19.842,0:01:23.385
when I was watching amphibious [br]World War II vehicles called ducks

0:01:23.385,0:01:25.540
giving land and water tours.

0:01:25.540,0:01:27.386
Back home at Homer Alaska.

0:01:27.416,0:01:30.630
I came up with...[br]I researched and wrote a similar tour

0:01:30.630,0:01:32.855
even though there was no way [br]I could afford a duck.

0:01:33.325,0:01:36.808
Two years later though, I came up[br]with a more affordable tour.

0:01:36.808,0:01:39.677
Entered a business idea contest,[br]won some cash,

0:01:39.677,0:01:43.540
and became the owner of a replica [br]of a San Francisco trolley.

0:01:43.540,0:01:47.591
I've learned about regulations, [br]marketing and ordinances,

0:01:47.591,0:01:50.947
and what it takes to get[br]old moving parts moving again.

0:01:50.947,0:01:54.013
The morning before my first tour,

0:01:54.013,0:01:56.588
I was underneath the trolley [br]fixing a fuel leak,

0:01:56.588,0:01:59.290
gas dripping down my elbows.

0:01:59.290,0:02:01.068
And I remember thinking to myself

0:02:01.084,0:02:03.933
"I could be sleeping in right now."

0:02:03.933,0:02:06.511
Well, aside from worrying about [br]an occasional fuel leak

0:02:06.511,0:02:08.839
or work interfering [br]with my fishing schedule,

0:02:08.839,0:02:11.851
I'm happy to know how empowering [br]it is to start with a dream

0:02:11.851,0:02:14.538
and end with something tangible.

0:02:14.538,0:02:17.014
I have learned [br]that I can't let people label me.

0:02:17.014,0:02:19.595
And my own limits are the limits [br]that I set for myself.

0:02:19.595,0:02:22.777
Alternative thinking has made it[br]that I can reach my dream.

0:02:22.777,0:02:25.382
And I hope that some day [br]by alternative thinking

0:02:25.382,0:02:29.121
I can be a part of a greater dream [br]to create positive solutions

0:02:29.121,0:02:31.791
for the rest of the world

0:02:31.791,0:02:36.667
(Applause)