“I didn't understand that I could sing until I was like 11 or 12. My mom heard me singing around the house and she said, What are you doing? You really can sing! So then I started going to school and singing to the girls.” SaidSchoolGirlHouseHeardMomSingingMy MomDoing You Author:Chris Brown
“I actually got started in acting when I was in pre-school. I was really into dance and performing, so my mom had me in dance classes, and then I got involved in a local theater company.” SchoolActingCompanyClassMomInvolvedTheaterMy MomLocalsPerformingDance ClassPre School Author:Fiona Gubelmann
“When I was in high school, my mom gave me a paperweight. It was when I was going through my 'not that interested in doing homework or really working on anything' phase and the paperweight said "If you're not the lead dog, the view never changes." And that's sort of the same thing, if you're not always working to be in the front.” IfsSaidSchoolViewsDogFrontsMomHigh SchoolMy MomPhasesNever ChangeHomeworkAlways Working Author:Amanda Schull
“I listened to my first comedy album in 6th grade. It was Bill Cosby. My brother and I would play it over and over on a Fisher Price record player. A friend in high school also introduced me to Richard Pryor. I wasn't writing material back then, but I would say funny stuff. I was good at making fun of people's moms. If I knew something personal about you, it would be used against you.” PeopleIfsWritingFirstsPlayWould BeSchoolUsedFunStuffRecordsComedyPlayerBrotherMaterialsMomHigh SchoolBillsAlbumsMy BrotherGradesFunny StuffRecord Players Author:Felipe Esparza
“But at the same time, my parents always encouraged my brother and me to be happy with what we were doing. My parents were athletes in high school; my mom and my dad were the stars of the basketball team, but they never pushed my brother and me to be anything we didn't want to be.” WantSchoolStarsParentTeamBrotherMomDadBasketballHigh SchoolMy DadAthleteMy MomMy BrotherBasketball Team Author:Jonathan Groff
“Mom did not want me to have anything to do with playing music. Being from a middle-class Black family in that particular era, everybody wanted you to have a profession -- a doctor, a lawyer, and so forth. So she sent me to school to study medicine.” WantWantedSchoolBlackClassGrowing UpStudyMiddleParticularMomMusic IsDoctorsMedicineProfessionLawyerErasMiddle ClassWant MePlaying MusicBlack Family Author:Don Alias
“Both of my parents are music teachers. My mother owns the school that I taught in. My brothers and sisters are musicans. My mom pushed me all the time. She knew that I could do it. She knew more than I did. She thought I would go somewhere. She gave me the job and helped me get equipment, which a lot of parents don't do. Alot of my students had to go out and fight for it.” SchoolJobsMotherFightingParentTeacherStudentsTaughtBrotherMomMy MomMy BrotherEquipmentBrothers And SistersMusic Teacher Author:Randy Rhoads
“My mom is very proud of introducing music to all her kids. But I played in some bad rock bands my junior and senior years of high school.” YearsKidsSchoolRocksMomProudBandHigh SchoolMy MomIntroducingSeniorJuniorsRock BandsSenior Year Author:Miles Teller
“When I was a baby, my mom used to have a dance school, and she used to teach classes there. We didn't have money for a babysitter, so she always brought me with her to the dancing school. Back then, I was already watching and listening to Michael Jackson for a long time.” LongSchoolUsedClassTeachBabyListeningMomLong TimeDancingMy MomBabysitter Author:Afrojack
“My mom and dad met at Anaheim High School. After they got married, all they wanted to do was have four children, and they did.” ChildrenWantedSchoolFourMomDadMetsMarriedHigh SchoolOur ChildrenMy MomMom And Dad Author:Gwen Stefani
“My Mom played violin and piano when she was growing up and she insisted, and I don't know if you can imagine how uncool it is to play the violin when you're eight and ten years old, but I told my Mom that I would quit every day until I went to high school and I met these other gentlemen who would become Yellowcard, and my friends, and I really fell in love with music and it wasn't just classical music, just submerged in the arts in the school I was in.” IfsKnowsYearsArtPlaySchoolGrowing UpGrowingImagineMomMetsTenHigh SchoolMy FriendsMy MomEightQuittingPianoGentlemanClassical MusicViolinSubmergedUncool Author:Sean Mackin
“I grew up with a single mom who was a waitress. We were on food stamps. My mom then got Pell Grants, put herself through college to get a degree to get a better job. Because we were broke, I then had to go to a state school. I went to Temple University, and had to get loans. So I grew up in a world where I saw the government helping individuals pull themselves up, and saw it work very successfully.” WorldStatesHelpingGovernmentSchoolJobsIndividualSawsCollegeGrewMomDegreesGrew UpUniversityMy MomBrokeTemplesGrantsStampsLoanSingle MomBetter JobsWaitressFood StampsPell Grants Author:Adam McKay
“I grew up with a lot of spirituality. It wasn't necessarily organized religion, because my mom was Jewish and my dad was Muslim. I went to Catholic school. There was a lot of conversation about comparative religions.” SchoolSpiritualityGrewMomDadConversationGrew UpCatholicMy DadMy MomOrganizedOrganized ReligionComparative ReligionCatholic School Author:Patricia Arquette
“My mom was my English teacher in high school. So to be able to bend the rules and be the class clown and get to take on my religion, my mom, and my town all at the same time was glorious. I think the desire to be funny was a mixture of wanting to be liked but also wanting to throw your elbows a bit. If you're cracking a joke in school, it's sort of anti-authority, but it's in the nicest, "Please like me!" way.” IfsThinkingWayAbleSchoolDesireBitsClassTeacherMomPleaseAuthorityJokesHigh SchoolTownsMy MomLike MeGloriousClownMixturesElbowsEnglish Teacher Author:Paul Rust
“You've got to go where the work is. My mom got a job somewhere else so I went and lived with her and then I just bounced all over going to school, chasing rainbows and all that.” SchoolJobsMomMy MomRainbowChasingSomewhere ElseChasing Rainbows Author:Nikki Jean
“I remember, in elementary school, being asked what my father does and not knowing how to answer. When I asked my mom what I should say next time, she replied, "Just say he's self-employed." I love that.” ShouldDoeSelfSchoolRememberNextFatherAnswersKnowingMomMy MomNot KnowingNext TimeEmployedElementary School Author:Yoshi Wada
“My mom taught me how to sew when I was super young; I used to make clothes for my dolls. When I finally went to [fashion design] school [in 1999], I really took to pattern making. Everyone in class was good at something; I was the person, if you need help with your patterns, you come to me and I would help you out.” IfsNeedsPersonsHelpingSchoolYoungUsedClassFashionDesignTaughtMomClothesPatternsMy MomDollsNeed HelpFashion Design Author:Serena Williams
“But, once again, when I said I'm so grateful for my mom just being adamant about me staying in public school - that is what allowed me to be exposed to so many different types of people. I went to a high school that was by the beach. I elected to do bussing my junior high school years. And my first year of high school, I would take the bus from my neighborhood to the beach schools. And at those schools, you had such a mix of so many types of kids.” PeopleYearsFirstsSaidDifferentKidsSchoolMomTypeHigh SchoolGratefulMy MomBeachStayingNeighborhoodBusExposedJust BeingPublic SchoolJuniorsJunior HighSo GratefulAdamantSchool YearsHigh School Junior Author:Regina King
“I began filmmaking in high school, at the Chicago Academy for the Arts. My first documentary was about a dysfunctional obese middle-aged carpet cleaner named Bill, who lived with his Mom, and his love affair with Anna, a drug-addicted prostitute. I made that when I was 16.” FirstsArtMadeSchoolMiddleMomDrugHigh SchoolBillsAffairChicagoFilmmakingDocumentariesHis LoveCarpetAcademyLove AffairCleanersMiddle AgedAnnaObese Author:Yony Leyser
“Whether you're playing a mom on-screen or you're in a car pool lane driving your child to school in the morning, there are similarities that are undeniable. And once you're a mother, there are certain things that are instinct. You just have a better understanding of what it means to be a mother.” MeanChildrenSchoolMotherCertainUnderstandingMorningCarMomOur ChildrenInstinctScreensDrivingYour ChildrenPoolLanesSimilarity Author:Nia Long
“My mom didn't adhere to any of those typical rules. She woke us up for school every morning, and was there at dinner or would call at bedtime. She never left for longer than a week. She recorded while we were sleeping.” SchoolLeftSleepMorningWeekMomMy MomDinnerEvery MorningTypicalBedtime Author:Tracee Ellis Ross
“I came back and decided that I wanted to go to college for acting and got my family on board. My mom, who was a single mom, was a little reticent, but I think after that summer [in the Governor's School], she saw a shift in me and realized that it was something I wanted more than just a hobby.” ThinkingLittlesWantedSchoolActingSawsCollegeMomSummerMy FamilyDecidedMy MomBoardsGovernorsHobbiesSingle Mom Author:Zachary Quinto
“Look, getting bullied in school and coming home crying in the rain and my mom making me a can of Campbell's Tomato Soup with some oysterettes. It was comfort food; that is what food should be.” ShouldLooksHomeSchoolCryMomComfortRainMy MomComing HomeSoupBulliedTomatoesComfort Food Author:Anthony Bourdain
“I was out there meeting with a lot of working moms and whenever I would gather a group of women, there was always a voice that was unfamiliar to me, and it was the voice of a military spouse, oftentimes a woman, oftentimes working, many times in a position where they've had to move every two or three years, where their kids have had to change school multiple times, people dealing - families dealing with multiple deployments, dealing with the stresses of reconnection.” PeopleYearsTwoKidsSchoolMovingThreeVoiceGroupsMilitaryPositionMomStressMeetingsThree YearsMultipleSpouseUnfamiliarDeploymentWorking ManWorking MomMilitary Spouse Author:Michelle Obama
“[Kurt] Vonnegut once said, if you ever want to know who somebody is... Like you look at Richard Nixon, or Adolf Hitler, or Ralph Nader, or anybody who seems like a difficult person to understand, and is therefore not part of the pattern of human behavior. Think about who they were in high school, and they will explain themselves to you. So we got a hold of, like, 50 high-school yearbooks, including my mom's from 1925 or something, and we discovered that they're all the same.” IfsThinkingKnowsWantHumansLooksPersonsSaidSeemsSchoolDifficultLike YouMomBehaviorHigh SchoolIncludingPatternsMy MomHuman BehaviorYearbookHigh School Yearbook Author:P. J. O'Rourke
“I ask you, how would you like your mom, your wife, your daughter to spend $100,000 to go to Harvard or some state school, and go out into the workplace, and you know she's great, and men are getting paid $200 per week more than her? Would that piss you off? What if you lost your job and you stay home crippled while she goes out, and she thinks she's going to get a good job, but someone male with the same level of experience and the same level of education gets paid more than her? You're going to get pissed. Until you walk a mile in someone else's shoes, I don't want to hear it.” IfsThinkingKnowsMenWantStatesHomeSchoolJobsAsksLostWalksLevelsWifeWeekLike YouMomDaughterPaidMalesShoesMilesWhat IfWorkplaceGood JobHarvardYour MomOur DaughterCrippledYour Daughter Author:Pam Grier
“My mom is from Jamaica and she was going to school in the morning, and in the evening she was working, and at night she would go to night school and then come in and go to sleep. So she would never watch the news and stuff like that and she didn't know what crack was. She didn't know nothing about it, but when I told her I was selling crack, she threatened to kick me out of the house. And then I just started paying for stuff - paying her bills and giving her money, so she'd just tell me to be careful because there was nothing she could do to stop it.” KnowsGivingSchoolNightHouseStuffSleepWatchesMorningMomNewsBillsCarefulMy MomSellingEveningKicksCracksBe CarefulThreatenedGoing To SleepJamaica Author:The Notorious B.I.G.
“To see the way that [my mother] held our family together after my dad passed away, and then went to college after my youngest sister went off to school on her own, and mom went and got a college degree in her 60s is just incredibly inspiring. So, I would just say my folks.” WaySchoolTogetherMotherCollegeMomDadDegreesMy DadFolksOur FamilyPassed AwayCollege DegreeFamily TogetherDad Passed Away Author:Mike Pence
“When I started acting, my mom said, "If you want to go to film school and eventually direct, being on set is probably the best film school in the world." I'm incredibly grateful for the career I've had, but I was an actor to be a part of movies and TV, not the other way around.” IfsWorldWayWantSaidSchoolFilmActorsActingCareersTvsMomDirectGratefulMy MomFilm SchoolBest Film Author:Jay Baruchel
“I was always big on laughs, giving and receiving. It wasn't necessarily good for my teachers. Of course there's times where you go too far. My mom had to tell me, "Boy, if I have to come down to this school one more time, you're gonna get it."” IfsGivingBigsSchoolCoursesBoysLaughingTeacherMomMy MomMore TimeReceivingGiving And Receiving Author:Kevin Hart
“My dad was a doctor who worked at a jail. He was more like a jail administrator. My mom was a public school teacher. There's no artists in my family whatsoever. So I don't know how that got in my gene pool, but it did.” KnowsSchoolArtistKnow HowTeacherMomDadMy FamilyDoctorsMy DadMy MomJailPoolGenesPublic SchoolDoctor WhoSchool TeachersAdministrators Author:Dan Amboyer
“My mom said the term heavy petting existed a lot when she was in high school.” SaidSchoolTermMomHigh SchoolHeavyMy Mom Author:Lena Dunham
“My mom and my real father divorced before I was one. My mom and my stepfather divorced when I was in high school. Then she fell in love with a guy, and the guy died. That was a rough time. She has handled adversity well. That's where I got my work ethic. So my mother's where I got my love of music, but my father's where I got my athletic ability. And my hair loss. And my love of women.” WellsRealSchoolMotherGuyFatherLossAbilityHairMomEthicsHigh SchoolDiedAdversityMy MomRoughWork EthicDivorcedAthleticMusic LoveRough TimesStepfathersAthletic AbilityReal FatherHair Loss Author:Kenny Chesney
“The idea of social performance, that we're always performing identities, is something I got fairly obsessed with. I think it's probably because I am a person who went to 15 different elementary and middle schools. I moved all the time, often having to run out in the middle of the night because my mom couldn't pay the bills. There were schools where I'd be the poor loser kid. There were schools where I'd suddenly be the smart kid or the cool kid, although that was very seldom.” ThinkingPersonsIdeasDifferentRunningKidsSchoolNightSocialPoorPayMiddleIdentityMomSmartPerformancesBillsMovedMy MomPerformingObsessedLoserMiddle Of The NightMiddle SchoolCool KidSmart Kid Author:Robert Greene
“I was raised by a single mom who had to put herself through school while looking after two kids. And she worked hard every day and made a lot of sacrifices to make sure we got everything we needed. My grandmother, she started off as a secretary in a bank. She never got a college education, even though she was smart as a whip. And she worked her way up to become a vice president of a local bank, but she hit the glass ceiling. She trained people who would end up becoming her bosses during the course of her career.” PeopleWayMadeTwoEndsHardKidsSchoolCoursesPresidentCareersSacrificeCollegeMomBecomingNeededSmartRaisedGlassesVicesLocalsGrandmotherBossSecretaryMy GrandmotherCeilingsWhipsVice PresidentSingle MomCollege EducationGlass Ceiling Author:Barack Obama
“When the cinematography school told me I would have no chance to get a job, I said, "It's irrelevant." My mom was a feminist in the '20s. She taught me to be on my own, to be independent, to do what I wanted to do. I did not believe it would be difficult. It was difficult. In '66, I almost starved for a year and a half, and the only way I did not starve was because I could not find a job in camera, but I found a job in editing.” BelieveSchoolDifficultChanceMomIndependentFeministMy MomIrrelevantCinematography Author:Babette Mangolte
“I grew up in a family of educators - my dad was a professor, my mom was a high school grammar and French teacher - so certainly my entire life education was stressed as incredibly important. And I think especially for my parents, who are both immigrants, and when immigrants come to this country, they understand that education is something that no one can take from them. You might leave the country with absolutely nothing, but no one can take your education from you.” ThinkingImportantCountrySchoolParentTeacherMomDadHigh SchoolMy DadMy MomStressedEducator Author:Soledad O'Brien
“I remember being in high school and my mother would say, "What about such-and-such boy?" I'm like, "Oh mom, he's too nice," we don't like the nice boys when we're 16. I'd say, "He's not attractive," and she'd say "All young people are attractive." And they are, and I get that.” PeopleSchoolRememberMotherBoysNiceMomHigh SchoolAttractiveToo Nice Author:Rosemarie DeWitt
“I always was getting into trouble some way, because I was really good at lying when I was a kid. If I left my jacket at school for the third time and my mom was really angry at me, I would make up a lie and I would just really believe in it. This sounds a little bit sociopathic.” BelieveKidsSchoolLyingTroubleMomMy Mom Author:Ian Harding
“I've never wanted to be anything other than an actor. I started performing on Broadway when I was 8 years old. My first night on stage, I told my mom, "This is what I want to do. I was always a very out-there kid. The sad thing about acting business is it's so fleeting. If I couldn't do that, I was going to go to school and study law and become a lawyer. But I probably would have been miserable, or they would have had some very theatrical court sessions.” KidsSchoolNightActingStudyMomMy MomLawyerMiserablePerformingTheatrical Author:Lea Michele
“My mom is Jamaican and Chinese, and my dad is Polish and African American, so I'm pretty mixed. My nickname in high school was United Nations. I was fine with it, even though I identify as a black woman. People don't realize it hurts my feelings when someone looks at my hair or my eyes, and says, "But you're not actually black. You're black, but you're not black black, because your eyes are green." I'm like, "What? No, no, I'm definitely black." Even some of my closest friends have said that. It's been a bit touchy for me.” PeopleFeelingsEyeSchoolBlackRealizingHurtMomDadHigh SchoolMy DadMy MomAfrican AmericanChineseIt HurtsBlack WomenUnited Nations Author:Ayesha Curry
“Basically what my mom told me - I was extremely shy, I didn't have any girlfriends 'til I was 21 - my mom would see me suffering and tell me, "Just focus on your school, study very hard, and some day you will be successful and you can use all the resources that you have to a dating advantage." Ultimately, I took that advice and turned it into dating sites.” SchoolSufferingStudySuccessfulFocusAdviceMomDatingMy MomGirlfriendBeing SuccessfulShy Author:Brandon Wade
“Because I haven't been in a band, I wasn't in that zone. I'm just a mom that needs to pick up her kids from school. I just don't remember what it is you do, what you wear. Even just doing photo sessions where you think, "I just don't remember how to do this."” ThinkingKidsSchoolRememberMomZone Author:Miki Berenyi
“I promised my mom that if, after a year of putting 150 percent into my career it didn't work out, I would go back to school. I never did go back.” IfsYearsSchoolCareersMomPercentWork OutMy Mom Author:Queen Latifah
“Children require guidance and sympathy far more than instruction.” ChildrenMotivationalSchoolSuccessFamilyInspireMomDisciplineParentingWittyGuidanceSympathyInstructionSchooledSchools And Education Author:Anne Sullivan Macy
“My mom passed away a day before high school started, and her dream was for me to be a full rock and roll guy, and play drums in a band.” PlayDreamSchoolGuyRocksMomBandHigh SchoolMy MomRock And RollPassed AwayPlaying DrumsMy Mom Passed AwayMom Passed Away Author:Travis Barker
“My mom taught me German before I knew English. And I went to French immersion school.” SchoolTaughtMomMy MomImmersion Author:Tatiana Maslany
“Even in high school, I'd tell my mom I was sick of swimming and wanted to try to play golf. She wasn't too happy. She'd say, 'Think about this.' And I'd always end up getting back in the pool.” ThinkingTryingEndsPlayWantedSchoolMomHigh SchoolSickGolfMy MomSwimmingPool Author:Michael Phelps
“I was who I was in high school in accordance with the rules of conduct for a normal person, like obeying your mom and dad. Then I got out of high school and moved out of the house, and I just started, for lack of a better term, running free.” PersonsRunningSchoolHouseTermMomDadNormalHigh SchoolMovedYour MomObeyingMom And DadRunning Free Author:Iggy Pop
“When I was in nursery school, the teachers asked me, y'know, 'What does your dad do for a living?' So I said 'He helps women get pregnant!' They called my mom and they were like, 'What exactly does your husband do?'” KnowsDoeSaidHelpingSchoolTeacherMomDadHusbandMy MomNursePregnantNurseryYour HusbandYour DadNursery School Author:Natalie Portman