I first inquired about the Foresight program back in 2013. I was working at Shell at the time and without even knowing the Shell/Foresight connection I was intrigued. After some soul searching, I left Shell in 2015 to enter the field of education. I had finally found what made me whole. I had completed a master’s in education, so I wasn’t in the market for another master’s degree, but emails kept showing up in my inbox. I don’t know what made me do it, maybe it was because Andy Hines was so responsive to my questions over the years, but I finally took the bait and applied in 2018. It was hands down the best decision I’ve ever made.

I began applying Foresight principles almost immediately. I saw its potential everywhere. Eventually others at the school became believers and it became a regular part of the conversation for students. We used it in a Language Arts class as we discussed dystopian fiction and what might be the warning signs that we were heading in that direction. We continued by employing Hayward’s Typology Quadrants and Inayatullah’s Future’s Triangle to deconstruct character motivations and possible actions. In the Entrepreneurship class we orchestrated a “Possibilities Workshop.” We then carried it over to the Modern Challenges class in which the students had looked at the history between Ukraine and Russia and then developed transformational and collapse scenarios. I even used Causal Layered Analysis during a professional development seminar to determine classroom culture around curiosity using the metaphors of “curiosity killed the cat,” and “cats have nine lives.”

Needless to say, I see Foresight everywhere, but I began to feel I had reached a plateau in my work. The environment was ripe for change with a new Head of School so for kicks and giggles I applied for a few jobs. I didn’t pay too much attention to the job descriptions, I just searched for stretch opportunities. Low and behold I got a nibble. A woman from Lehigh@Nasdaq contacted me about my application to set up a meeting. I went to their website to familiarize myself with their organization and there in bold print was my, our, love language, the language of Foresight. The position was to serve to prepare students for the “future of work and life.” The subsequent interviews unfolded an opportunity of a lifetime. I am certain that it was my Foresight training that led them to make an offer. And it was the easiest decision I’ve ever made. I’m happy to announce I’ve accepted the offer and will be starting my new position within the month. Thank you Andy and all the amazing faculty at the University of Houston who helped me on my path. I will be forever grateful and a proud Cougar! Go Houston!