The adolescent years are an incredibly important developmental time for all individuals. It is a vital time for young women to develop confidence and self-esteem, learn new skills and competencies, discover strengths and weaknesses, and increase their understanding of self and environment. Since leadership is also a network of relationships , experience and opportunity in building healthy relationships with a host of different people and organizations is critical during these years. Adolescence is a dynamic time full of positive and negative experiences, challenges, and opportunities that all seem to impact people in some way for the rest of their lives . This proved true for these university presidents. During these years it seems they were taught by life itself. This presentation will share the results of a study the investigated the adolescent experiences of women university presidents when they were young.