Oh Iris!

Iris Weiss......
What a beautiful person!
Iris Weiss was my Senior College Prep English teacher
Now this lady knows her shiz thats for sure
Of course when i took that class i thought she was ridiculous
she would tell stories of how past students would contact her and ask her to help them with things like wedding ring shopping....cause i guess she's really good at that
i dont know, it just seemed ridiculous, and i always thought she was just trying to impress us and make herself seem so important and well-known
But thats not what this is about
So there was always one subject she would talk about that i disagreed with
Networking
So in class; talking about the future and college was our main lesson to be learned
now the main lesson of this was Networking. She was very adamant to instill a good networking mentality into our little senior brains. She made it very clear that she felt the only reason people were successful was by networking and you get where you are through the people you know.
I was always a little peeved at that because I felt that people are successful through hard work and though knowing important people can have advantages, i was sure that it coudlnt be the ONLY way to be a successful.

But you know what

I think Iris was right, in a way. I think networking is really important. It can help you get things you couldn't otherwise get, it can help you to receive opportunities you coudlnt otherwise find or know about and lets not forget, it can really help you get a job.

Iris, i'm sorry that I looked down on this subject matter before, but i no longer look down on your teachings, though i still may look down to you because well, your only 4'6 which is considerably small for an adult.

Anyways, I realized this upon being here at college so wouldn't you know, college prep was right! who knew?
I started realizing that a lot of things that i have received or been privileged to do or whatever has come through knowing someone important. examples:
-I receive BYU art ticket discounts now because of my Makeup teacher
-plus i am able to go to a final dress of a production because she gave me permission (no one is allowed to go to those if they aren't designing the production)
-I got a free t-shirt because someone in my ward was in BYU/SA
- I was allowed into Subway when they were closed because my friend worked there
- I got to get into a dance free because a member of club style was at admissions entrance
- I get to help out with makeup for a film this spring because my T.A. is in charge of it
- Me and Mom got to go and sit in the 'coaches only' area at Nationals for Van, because we know Danny; aka the owner of the gym
- We get free apple sauce and peanut butter because we're roommates with Kia and she works in the food lab
- I sometimes get free food from shoots because Winnie's family owns it
and probably many more that i dont even realize!
- I get free dental work from my dad
- I received free periodontal work because of my dad's connections
- My T.a. let us onto the stage for Tartuffe before the show opened because she works in the scene shop.
- I got to go to a concert that only a handful of people know about and be front row, basically touching the bands because a friend of mine knew one of the bands

there are probably so many more examples that i dont remember. Not to mention job opportunities that come out of knowing people. I wouldn't have even know to get a job at Dr Goodmans office if it hadn't been for our neighbor, and so on.

I think the church can sometimes be a large networking organization. Of course that's not the purpose of it but is a place where you know a lot of people from and it helps, like when grant was trying to find an engagement ring.

Who you know really does help, i dont think its the sole factor in success but it sure is helpful!

So Iris Weiss, though I may have been a saucy teenager and may have laughed at your ...quirks .... you were right about this and thank you for teaching me that.

Oooooh Iris!