Tell us your success story

I had been a teacher for 40 years. Retirement is wonderful, but having so much knowledge with no one to share it with was sad. I could tell you how to deal with a challenging group of teens, for example, but who would I tell? My son, who had just created a Master's Degree program in Education, also created 2 Coursera courses based on some of his most successful classes. Of course I took them and soon found myself a Mentor. Best of all, my background and experience could support his courses. I could explain with real examples why a strategy would work.For a while I felt like a Dear Abby sort of person, problem solving all these teachers issues through my son's course. But it was wonderful and I felt as if I was able to not only help others, but help my son's course and finally help myself.
I learned it was very satisfying to help others and soon became a Mentor Guide in the forums where I was able to help many more people. Beyond just helping others, there was such an exciting feeling to be able to connect with people from all over the world! I became close friends with someone from Poland. Although she is no longer here at Coursera, we have collaborated on a few educational projects and workshops that have been presented in a few different countries. Recently, we have written a project up that is being considered for publication in a book of Project Ideas for ESL ( English as a second language).
Meeting people from all over the world, thanks to Coursera has given me new understanding of life.