When David refuses to use Saul’s armor in the fight, he says that he knows enough from his work as a shepherd. As a shepherd, his job was to feed the king’s flocks and keep them safe from predators. At first, it is unclear as to how this would prepare him for lethal combat against an armed adversary. But David was accustomed to moving and adapting quickly as he used projectiles to attack packs of wolves that would menace the sheep. He was used to being overmatched numerically and to using his size and speed to his advantage. His experiences as a shepherd had also forced him to think unconventionally, which gave him the victory against Goliath. Many of the figures in David and Goliath come to their breakthroughs as a result of trying to protect and nurture those in their care, such as the police officer Joanne Joffe when she arrives in Brownsville and starts the J-RIP program. 

When Caroline Sacks chooses to attend Brown University instead of the University of Maryland, she takes the step that will eventually lead her to leave science altogether. Sacks had always been the top student in her classes, but this was not the case at Brown.