Who Inspires Us?

Ever since I was a child, I shared an incredibly close bond with my grandmother, and during her final stage of life, I was one of her primary caregivers. She always said that she enjoyed chatting with me and said I have some interesting perspectives. I was also inspired by how she was so strong, brilliant, and responsible for her whole life. The regrets of not expressing my love more and spending more time with her remain till now.

She's my mom. My parents raised me and my brother in Maryland and our family has gotten back together for almost every Christmas since then. While we have not visited in person for a few years we keep in touch by email and phone.

I picked my dad Tom because he is the best. I admire his kindness and generosity, and he's super funny! His optimism is unbeatable~ I'm proud to be his daughter.

Justin has been my friend since elementary school. There has been few others in my life that have believed in me like him, and despite being such an busy person, and not living together in the same city since we were 18, also found a way to make me feel he was living next door. Anyone who meets him knows immediately how listened to he makes you feel, and I feel truly lucky to have him in my life.

Well, this person is my mother and my mom has taught me everything I need to know and was/is the perfect role model for me! Growing up, I really respected how she awoke everyday at 4am to get ready for work, make us breakfast, and commute that I emulated this from the 6th-11th grade and it really helped me a lot with being responsible for my sister in the mornings. Along with that, she just taught me pretty much all of my manners and has shaped me to being who I am today. She's always supported everything I've done, is really lovely, and is the big reason why I'm obsessed with cats... she has nine!!!

Patrick was a teacher at Usdan Summer Camp in Long Island. I enrolled in his brand new class of computer programming. He was and still is one of my favorite mentors, teaching me my first pieces of 3D modeling, programming, game art. I ended up working with him for a bit as assistant professor, and now and then he invites me to lecture at his classes. We're close friends to this day and we keep in touch about the cool tech things happening daily.

Taught me the importance of education and was always the person I was most excited to show my report card too. I'll also never forget that in 8th grade we had a state basketball tournament which was located 5 hours away where I lived in Green Bay. Long story short... my grandparents drove the entire way, put themselves up in a hotel, and surprised me with their presence supporting me and our team on the way to a state championship.

I spent probably half of my childhood with my grandparents and they both were my main mentors in life. They embodied intelligence, grit, passion, teamwork, and flexibility, and together they built a multi-million dollar dairy farm industry from a couple of cows. They were each incredibly wise. Pappy taught me about human and animal behavior, business instincts, and how to approach life, spirituality, and society. Granny taught me how to be taken seriously as an intelligent female that enjoyed making things happen, how to run and grow a business, how to be tender-hearted when required, and how to have fun. I miss them immensely.

She's my mom! Words can't describe how much of a warrior she is. As a single parent, she supported me and my sister wholeheartedly, all at the same time as juggling her full time career. She instilled the best values in us and always pushed us to our fullest potential while also bragging alllll the time about how we are her super heroes. Truly, she sacrificed her life for us and made our childhood special. I can't thank her enough for this.

They are my original superman. Because of my dad, I was able to experience new travels around the world.

My dad has always shown up for me and been my biggest supporter. He is my favorite person to share a meal with and travel with. The daily hard work my father does to stay up on his physical, emotional and social well-being is so admirable. He is one of my best friend

My grandpap was just the best. He was the funniest person ever and had the BEST stories. To know Charlie was to love Charlie — and it seemed like he knew everybody! He always raved about how his father — who everyone called "Smiler" — was so beloved, but I don't think he ever realized that everyone felt the same way about him. Truly such an amazing man.

My mother, Beverly Hom, has been raising me since I was born, and has continually shown unconditional love for both my brother and I. Through life's ups and downs she has always been there for me and given me the support I need to succeed.

Sebastian is a B+ Hero with my nonprofit - The Andrew McDonough B+ Foundation which supports and raises awareness for pediatric cancer. Sebastian is someone I don't know incredibly well, but we've had events with him and he is a huge light to others who are battling cancer. He is very smiley and optimistic even though he has battled cancer.

Working in long term care you build bonds with your residents. You spend everyday with them, learn from each other, get helpful feedback, hear amazing stories all the while you’re genuinely concerned about their wellbeing and trying to monitor their health, make sure they have the best quality of life possible.