Editor's note: The four women honored this year by the YWCA have each contributed a personal essay regarding their path to achievement. Connie Chun's essay ran last Sunday, Gwen Pacarro's appeared Tuesday, Donnis Thompson's runs today and we'll hear from Jenai Sullivan Wall this Sunday.

As an educator, I bear the responsibility of guiding and shaping young people through their life choices. That responsibility has obligated me to examine my own experiences and how they contributed to my life goals. One of the strongest motivating goals in my life has been to be the best and do the best that I can in the best possible manner. My life goals were born and strengthened because of what I call the "three strikes," circumstances that had the potential to be negative forces in my life.

The first was class inequity. I was born in the ghetto into a family of meager means. Fortunately, my family was incredibly supportive and loving, encouraging me to dream of being anything I wanted with no limits. I was fortunate to become involved with the Chicago Catholic Youth Organization, and my involvement with them allowed me to compete at a national level. It also helped develop my skills as a competitor and team member. I incorporated this experience into my own teaching and have always impressed upon my women students the importance of looking for areas they can achieve in and make a difference in.

I realized at an early age that the key to success was education, and I worked hard to become the first in my family to attend college. It was at the University of Illinois that I was exposed to the second strike, racism. Coming from the ghetto, I was not as acutely aware of the many sides of racism. Suddenly, I was living in an interracial situation and experiencing it (racism) for the first time. It was brought home to me during a debate class when a classmate set out to prove that blue eyes were better then brown eyes. Although the facts were on my side, I lost the debate because I was not able to pull the facts together. The lesson I learned from this experience added another building block to my goals. I recognized the importance of developing the ability to articulate my ideas in an organized and persuasive manner.

When Richard Yu brought me over to start the women's track and field program at the University of Hawai'i, I encountered the third strike, that of sexism. I had not realized that this was prevalent or a problem until one day I encountered a young woman crying in my office. When I found out that she had been kicked off the swimming team for wearing a bathing suit that showed her navel, even though the male swimmers could wear any type of suit they wanted, I knew it was time to make some changes.

I feel fortunate that I have been able to use my "three strikes" as a positive force for change. My formula is simple: Dissect the situation, lay out the strategy and then continually move in that direction until the task is completed. It is one that I cannot stress enough to any young woman in the pursuit of excellence.

Donnis Thompson, retired professor of athletics at the University of Hawai'i, is a 2008 YWCA Leadership Award winner.