For Lauren, teaching is a passion. Throughout her nearly twenty years of teaching, at the core of her practice is a love of reading and writing, and a belief that these lead to better and more enriching lives. Literacy is not only a right for all Australians, it is the doorway to worlds of knowledge, empathy and understanding. She is still a passionate English teacher, first and foremost. Lauren's students are regularly asked, “What are you reading?” and invited to share the stories and what they took out of them. Initially, her first leadership roles were in subject leadership in English and languages, but a desire to reach students on a more fundamental level led her into student management and wellbeing roles, and school management in the public system. While working in some of the lowest socio-economic areas of Victoria, she saw the connection between wellbeing and school success that shaped the future of her career. Each day, she worked with students who had such difficult personal circumstances that the pressures of school were too much for them. Recognising and empathising with this meant that she could no longer practise teaching without also ensuring she was building the resilience and mindset of her students. Lauren became dedicated to coaching them in the 21st Century skills that are vital to future success. Positive Psychology and its offshoot, Positive Education became her new focus When she first began teaching boys, she responded immediately to their humour and honesty, although it took more time to really unpack the issues facing them in the modern world. They are growing up in a society that sends mixed messages about men – one which is quick to point out the faults of men in general. While Martin Seligman’s work on Positive Psychology is aimed at us all developing the strengths and skills to be resilient in difficult times, she came to believe a special set of skills may be required by young men to overcome the many specific challenges they face. Her current passion and direction is in assisting the young men she works with to develop strong, healthy and positive masculine identities that allow them to embrace non-traditional roles and ways of thinking with confidence, that is, Positive Masculinity. She still believes in the power of stories. Stories have long been the language of character, across time, language and culture. Her current IBSC research project looks at positive stories about men – both fictional and real-life as a kind of inoculation against toxic masculinity and low self-esteem. Her advice to younger teachers would be to consistently seek the same passion that directed them towards teaching. Passion and purpose are key to personal and professional happiness, and to making a difference to those around us. It is a privilege to work with young people – and the profession has such opportunity and variety to make an impact and to continue to learn and grow.