What’s a moment that really shaped how you see the world?

Sometimes a key moment can make a world of difference in our lives. Those moments are deeply underrepresented in our conversations relative to the importance they play in our lives. We hope to begin to remedy that below.

Angela M. Cantoni

Losing four pregnancies changed me in ways I never expected. It was heartbreaking, yes, but also transformative. With each loss, it felt like a piece of my heart broke… but strangely, it also felt like my heart got bigger. Bigger in compassion, in empathy, in gratitude. I became softer in some ways and stronger in others. Read more>>

Hung Viet Nguyen

It was happening during and after my first Los Angeles Marathon in 1985; to be a finisher, one had to complete the whole distance. From that, any achievement in life requires time and effort, no shortcuts. Read more>>

Jacqueline Pirkle

One moment that really shaped how I view the world is actually this journey of bringing our movie to life. I’ve realized how much hard work in acting pays off, but even more so, how crucial it is to have the right connections and a supportive team. Read more>>

Karmelina Moore

The moment that shaped my view on the world was seeing my first concert at the Irvine Amphitheatre (now demolished). It was a month after I graduated from high school and my brother and I saw Van Halen. This was 2015, and Eddie’s son Wolfie was playing bass. Read more>>

David

Ten years ago, I became deeply curious about where my food actually came from; who grew it, how it was produced, and what impact that process had on both people and the planet. The more I learned, the more I realized how disconnected most of us have become from our food system. Read more>>

Karla McNeil-Rueda

When I moved from Honduras to the U.S., I felt the weight of leaving home and the distance from the life I knew. That experience taught me that from your deepest losses can come your greatest joys. Read more>>https://voyagela.com/interview/story-lesson-highlights-with-karla-mcneil-rueda-of-sacramento-highlight

Brandon Hollemon

I was eleven years old when my father passed away. That moment cracked my world open — and somewhere in that silence, I found a guitar. I didn’t know it then, but that first note would become the start of everything. The guitar became my voice, my therapy, and my connection to something bigger than pain. Read more>>

Tom Pazderka

In November 1989, when I was eight years old, the Velvet Revolution swept through Czechoslovakia. I watched it unfold on television, which was back then totally controlled by the state. There were millions of people in the streets throughout the country, maybe as many as a million in Prague alone, a city that itself has about a million residents. Read more>>

Lauri Levenfeld

In my pursuit of art and storytelling, two events led me to where I am today. Read more>>

Tiffany Pegula

Traveling the world truly shaped how I see life and people. Experiencing different cultures in places like Japan, Costa Rica, Peru, and London opened my eyes to how beautifully diverse yet deeply connected we all are. Each trip taught me something new about gratitude, perspective, and compassion. It reminded me that kindness, love, and community look the same no matter where you go. Read more>>

Danny Pham

I realized I was queer in my early adolescent years but hid it from my peers. I just didn’t see many people like me and often felt unsure of where I fit in. One moment, in particular, helped shape how I saw the world. I was 16 at my first EDM rave when I bumped into a random girl. Read more>>

David Violi

There was a moment when I looked in the mirror and realized I wasn’t the same person I used to be — not just physically, but mentally. I had been running on autopilot for years, working hard but not really living with intention. That realization hit me harder than any workout ever could. It changed everything. Read more>>

Christine CAMM

When I was 16 I wrote a letter the the Mayor of Calais and asked him to find me a French family. I was so happy and surprised to get a positive reply! He had found me a lovely family not far from the post of Calais. Read more>>

Ray(Yu) Zhou

This is more like a period of time. It was when I first came to the United States in 2019. For me, who grew up in China, this was the first time I settled in a country with a completely different language and cultural environment. Read more>>

Artii Smith

The moment that really shaped how I see the world came when I was in high school. I was a kid who was in love with basketball, and I trained every single day, convinced that if I just worked hard enough, I’d get the chance to prove I could make it to the NBA. Read more>>

Maya Delgado

One of the most impactful moments in my life was giving a very shy yet talented singer a scholarship to vocally train. Her mother could not afford to send her to professional vocal lessons and seeing her discover her singing ability was incredibly powerful. Read more>>

Ron Placone

The first time I left the US and traveled abroad, it really opened my eyes to the horrors of the US war machine. At that time, I was fairly young and Iraq was happening. I wasn’t sure why we were over there. I started asking more questions and reading more books. Read more>>

Coretta Monk

Learning in College at Appalachian State University really shaped how I see the world. It made me open to diversity and all that goes with it. Read more>>