I watched as Roussel Hall slowly filled up with people, all waiting for the brilliant Maya Angelou. After leaving the Father Carter Lecture Series angry last year, I sat in my third-row seat praying that Angelou would not let me down as Spike Lee had.

The crowd took to its feet, bursting with applause and amazement as Angelou took the stage. She was larger than life, literally at six feet tall, with a smile that warmed the room.

I stared at her in astonishment as she began to sing and recite verse. After her song, she looked to the audience and said, “I came here to talk, and I’m not leaving until I’m finished.”

It was this vitality that she interjected into her lecture and her life.

I don’t think it’s possible to be unfamiliar with Angelou’s work, but to be safe, she is a poet, actress, author, playwright and Civil Rights activist. She is the author of 25 books, 12 of which are bestsellers, and eight plays. She has 55 honorary doctorates, her last from Columbia University.

It impressed me so much that a woman who had faced such hardship would have been able to achieve so much and maintain such an illuminating outlook on life. Angelou overcame rape at age five and racial violence, as “the boys” rode through her neighborhood leaving only destruction and death in their wake.

In spite of all of this, Angelou said that there was always hope, always a “rainbow in the clouds.” She took this line from an African American spiritual and used it to shape her lecture and her life.

I felt so touched by the lecture and specifically this “rainbow in the clouds” idea, that I thought it would be best to end on an inspirational note, attributed to Maya Angelou.

Though I often take a pessimistic approach to life, I realized that there are rainbows in the clouds, providing hope to those who are willing to take the time to look up.

As Angelou explained her “rainbow in the clouds” philosophy, she peered out over the audience and said, “When I look at you, I know who you are.” This sent chills down my spine, as if she were speaking directly to me.

Angelou went on to explain that without rainbows nothing would ever get better.

She said that no matter what challenges you face, it is important to take the rainbows you are given and to use them to overcome obstacles.

I couldn’t help but be taken back by this statement. Too often we hold onto the bad things that happen in our lives, and we allow ourselves to stay rooted in drama when we could easily choose change.

So many people blame the past for the present, when all they have to do is use their rainbows to shape the future.

Angelou explained that some people “dare to become rainbows themselves,” and these are the people that rewrite history. Her crippled uncle, a man that the world had disowned, taught a young boy of a blind mother to read.

Eventually this boy grew up to be the mayor of Little Rock, Ark., attributing his success to her uncle’s kindness.

Her uncle was a rainbow for this boy, and the boy for another.

Now, I pass on Angelou’s dare to become a rainbow, dare to change your life and maybe even change the life of someone who doesn’t believe in rainbows.