I really love stories about the power of one. I love stories that involve a person—just an ordinary person—starting out on a journey that seems impossible, even crazy, at the beginning, but then persevering and doing miraculous things. These stories let us know that we can change the world.

What are the transformative moments in your life? When have you received a lightning flash of insight that changed your point of view, or even the direction of your life?

At the age of seventeen I went to Mexico on a student exchange. When I arrived I spoke no Spanish. My introduction to the language began at breakfast the morning after my arrival. My host held up a fork. “Tenedor,” he said.