WEBVTT

00:00:18.841 --> 00:00:20.960
I've loved school.

00:00:20.960 --> 00:00:24.012
Until the time I took my first test.

00:00:24.012 --> 00:00:26.424
I loved my teachers and I loved my friends.

00:00:26.424 --> 00:00:29.680
But I hated reading. It made my head hurt.

00:00:29.680 --> 00:00:33.098
Specialists started pointing me 
out of my classroom

00:00:33.098 --> 00:00:35.594
and labeled me "reading and writing disabled."

00:00:35.594 --> 00:00:39.261
And for years I was totally freaked out 
and anxious about school.

00:00:39.261 --> 00:00:42.313
And in middle school it got worse.

00:00:42.313 --> 00:00:44.546
Until I started home school.

00:00:44.546 --> 00:00:46.894
That's when I realized I just needed 
an alternative way to learn.

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

00:00:51.591 --> 00:00:53.897
biology on safaris in Kenya,

00:00:53.897 --> 00:00:58.126
and real life math at grocery stores, 
currency exchanges on Craigslist.

00:00:58.126 --> 00:01:02.420
After homeschooling, 
my grade point average came up,

00:01:02.420 --> 00:01:06.265
my self esteem came back 
and I felt empowered.

00:01:06.265 --> 00:01:09.746
And once I became responsible 
for my own time management,

00:01:09.746 --> 00:01:11.570
and I kinda got used to that,

00:01:11.570 --> 00:01:14.369
I couldn't imagine a future 
on somebody else's schedule.

00:01:14.809 --> 00:01:17.815
So last year I created my own business.

00:01:17.815 --> 00:01:19.842
The idea came to me in Liverpool

00:01:19.842 --> 00:01:23.385
when I was watching amphibious 
World War II vehicles called ducks

00:01:23.385 --> 00:01:25.540
giving land and water tours.

00:01:25.540 --> 00:01:27.386
Back home at Homer Alaska.

00:01:27.416 --> 00:01:30.630
I came up with...
I researched and wrote a similar tour

00:01:30.630 --> 00:01:32.855
even though there was no way 
I could afford a duck.

00:01:33.325 --> 00:01:36.808
Two years later though, I came up
with a more affordable tour.

00:01:36.808 --> 00:01:39.677
Entered a business idea contest,
won some cash,

00:01:39.677 --> 00:01:43.540
and became the owner of a replica 
of a San Francisco trolley.

00:01:43.540 --> 00:01:47.591
I've learned about regulations, 
marketing and ordinances,

00:01:47.591 --> 00:01:50.947
and what it takes to get
old moving parts moving again.

00:01:50.947 --> 00:01:54.013
The morning before my first tour,

00:01:54.013 --> 00:01:56.588
I was underneath the trolley 
fixing a fuel leak,

00:01:56.588 --> 00:01:59.290
gas dripping down my elbows.

00:01:59.290 --> 00:02:01.068
And I remember thinking to myself

00:02:01.084 --> 00:02:03.933
"I could be sleeping in right now."

00:02:03.933 --> 00:02:06.511
Well, aside from worrying about 
an occasional fuel leak

00:02:06.511 --> 00:02:08.839
or work interfering 
with my fishing schedule,

00:02:08.839 --> 00:02:11.851
I'm happy to know how empowering 
it is to start with a dream

00:02:11.851 --> 00:02:14.538
and end with something tangible.

00:02:14.538 --> 00:02:17.014
I have learned 
that I can't let people label me.

00:02:17.014 --> 00:02:19.595
And my own limits are the limits 
that I set for myself.

00:02:19.595 --> 00:02:22.777
Alternative thinking has made it
that I can reach my dream.

00:02:22.777 --> 00:02:25.382
And I hope that some day 
by alternative thinking

00:02:25.382 --> 00:02:29.121
I can be a part of a greater dream 
to create positive solutions

00:02:29.121 --> 00:02:31.791
for the rest of the world

00:02:31.791 --> 00:02:36.667
(Applause)