By Rachel Heller and Esra Mahgoub

“For me, it’s important to be optimistic and high-spirited, A: because I understand the world you live in isn’t always going to present that, so I always want to stand out in that way, and B: the characteristic of that, you don’t need to be smart or intelligent to have that characteristic. It’s a simple choice matter. So that’s, for me, why that’s important. What keeps me in good spirits or motivates me? I think part of it’s choice, part of it is the idea of making my family proud, whether it’s my parents who now live in Florida, or my kids at home and my wife, that is an extreme motivation for me. And then, I’m old enough to realize that you only live one life. I’ve had enough loss to realize that there are moments that have passed that I wish I would have made different, and wish I would have responded different. So, I kind of go into each day with that mentality. I’m not going to let sleep, or being tired, be the thing that is a motivating factor. I would tell everybody to assume that the moment that you’re in, or the moment that you are leading to, whether it’s a class period, whether it’s that night, or whether it’s whatever you’re involved with, assume that’s going to be the most important moment of your life. And if you assume that, you’re going to be ready for each moment. Obviously each moment won’t be that, but you’re always ready for that thing that might be life changing, rather than being reactive, and realizing after the fact.”