i still remember her name, gail harper. she was my speech teacher in college -- i mean in high school, i'm sorry. and, you know, i know some of my colleagues won't believe this but i was among the most introverted persons at that time in my life. i didn't even want to take the speech course. but i was told by my guidance counselor that it was a must. and i was a good student, honor student, but i didn't want to take the speech course bus because i dwant to do extemporaneous speaking, get up in front of the class, do any assignments, didn't want to do any of that. i was forced to take it. by prepare my work but i wouldn't deliver it. and finally gail harper, the teacher said to me, robert, kept me after class one day and said look, i don't know why you prepare yourself, your preparation is great but if you don't deliver this here, you're going to fail. and my mother, who had fled a country to come to freedom and was convinced i'd be the first in my family to go to college, told me failure is not an option. so when i heard ga