I grew up in a small town. Our heroes were the everyday people: the bus driver who put on chains in the snow so we could get to school, the cafeteria lady who cooked hot lunches for us, and my Spanish teacher who lived up the street. They were our role models, our coaches, and our support system. They held us accountable when we screwed up and they cheered for us when we succeeded.
To this day, I look up to friends, neighbors and colleagues as role models. Not celebrities and their manufactured images. To me it is the unsung heroes, the hard working, ordinary people who pay taxes, stitch up wounds, drag themselves to work every day who make the world a better place. They deserve recognition. When BAM Radio asked me who I thought deserved recognition in 2013, I named three personal heroes, ordinary people dealing with extraordinary circumstances. Please have a listen. You can find our radio show at www.bamradionetwork.com. It is titled, "Teens More and Less Empowered in 2013."