Sharon Balsamo recommended Sophia to participate here and Ashlee Davis was singing her praises, too. I am so grateful to them because I really love these opportunities to chat with the younger folks. I don't have the fondest of memories from my high school days and seem to be forgetting more and more of them as those drift further and further back in time, so it was great to chat with Sophia about some of the stuff she's going through.

What really struck me as we chatted is that the things that are bothering her in her peer group pretty much mirror what is bothering me in mine. I suppose as the years go by we have more and more opportunities to grow empathy and compassion and evolve for the better, but it doesn't necessarily mean we take advantage of those chances. Is it so simple as that? Some do. Some don't. I guess I tend to believe that it's more complicated. At any rate, if Sophia at 15 is any indicator of future Sophia, she seems to be on the right track.