Jennifer Harper

I will say, first of all, the foundation of family around me that pushed me. My family was there always, through track and everything, so I definitely contribute to my success. The other is my college coach, Teresa Fuquay. I wrote about her also. Seeing a woman in leadership do it when there's only two percent at the University of Houston - just being able to watch women in leadership that are fearless, I definitely attribute that to my success. And I can never, ever forget my belief system, which is God, because there's been so many times I had to pray walking into a building. But knowing that I'm called to do what I'm supposed to do, and I've gotta continue in the fight, even though it looks like it's time to give up. Those barriers that are invisible to some, but definitely if you're in the role, you definitely feel it. The exhaustion is there with taking things away, taking roles away, taking money away.

There was a lady, she was an art teacher actually, and I remember when I was a paraprofessional - I started at the very foundational level you can in education as a para - and she said, don't dress where you are, dress where you're going. Dress for where you're going. And so I would dress up every day as a para, like, look like a principal. I literally would do that, and I'd take that with me everywhere. You always are prepared for where you go, and not where you currently are.

The first thing is, whatever you're desiring to do, don't worry about the pushback. It's gonna come no matter what. It's always gonna come, it's never gonna end. So continue - if you're passionate about something, you really believe in it, gain as many mentors, many people around you that are going to push you into that positive realm, to continue going, because your voice matters, you matter, you are important. Don't let anybody shut you up. Don't let anybody do that.

It's like, again, two-fold. What I wrote about with track and field - I still feel like in sports, women, we've increased the participation for girls, but just the leadership. In my dissertation, I feel like it can go in any field. Women in leadership, we have the expectation of the mother when we're in those meetings. We wear all roles, and society wants us to have that glass ceiling of, like, when you speak, you have to speak a certain way. You cannot say the same things like a man does. What my research kept pulling, even though I was focusing on women in track and field, and I interviewed several, the challenge is the burnout, because you're the mom, you're the wife, you're doing everything, but also being compared to the male. So that's a big challenge, and can sometimes be a major barrier for women on how we are - the expectation of us in our leadership roles. I feel like it goes for education, it goes for sport as well. We have to be careful, and we need to promote more. The other thing that I see is legislation trying to take money out of special education. We cannot afford it. We need all hands on deck. Taking people away means carrying more weight and having more hats to wear. And we just can't do that because our students are the ones that we're here for. They need to have the people in place to provide them the services that they need. And so, to take that away, that definitely can be a barrier. The vouchers of the private schools, it takes money out of the public sector. A lot of schools have closed because of it.

I would say family, because the family aspect at home, you have to do that. You have to grasp that at school. Having the awesome opportunity to speak to families every day, you really want to have - be transparent and be as open and loving as possible. People are going through so much right now. And so, I would say that value of family is very important to me, that cohesiveness at home and in my job. Relentless spirit - that's something that, like, you give me a challenge, and I definitely, I'm trying my hardest to get it. I like to win, I am a hyper performer. So, when I win, I feel like all my families win as well. So, I'm always gonna be trying to go for more and to get better.