Sergey Brin & Larry Page

"We have a mantra: don't be evil, which is to do the best thing we   know how for our users and our customers, for everyone. So, I think if were known for that, it would be a wonderful thing.

~Larry Page 

I feel a little odd talking so candidly about these two on part of their own site, but there is no way to not mention how the thought child of these two has changed the world today. 

After graduating from Stanford in 1995, Sergey Brin and Larry Page created the idea for a new, and improved, public search engine. "Basically, our goal is to organize the world's information and to make it universally accessible and useful," Larry Page says. Page and Brin certainly did that, and more. 

Today, Google is the most widely used search engine but it has expanded also into a great tool for daily life. 

I don't know about you reading this blog, but I use Google on a daily basis for things like homework, shopping, travel plans, directions,to keep updated with the news, and stay in contact with friends.  

I truly cannot imagine the world without Google. It has been such a common word, and even a verb. It is quite common to hear someone say to "Google" something. I don't know if Page and Brin knew how widely their innovation would effect people today, but their genius has turned an already great search engine into so much more today. 

"Obviously everyone wants to be successful, but I want to be looked back on as being very innovative, very trusted and ethical and ultimately making a big difference in the world"

~Sergey Brin

For more information: USA Today

April Capone Almon

April Capone Almon

Photo Courtesy of: Hip Hop Wired 

On the topic of awesome mayors, the mayor of East Haven, Connecticut went way beyond her political duties in 2010. April Capone Almon donated a kidney to one of her constituents.

While running for re-election, Ms. Almon was on facebook.com one day when she saw one of her constituents was in need of a kidney. 

Carlos Sanchez updated his facebook status after finding out his kidneys were failing due to his diabetes. None of his family or friends were matches. He never expected his mayor to be the one to volunteer. At first thought the mayor was joking when she messaged him saying she would get tested, but she insisted she was very serious.

April Capone Almon said "I really felt from the very beginning that I was going to be a match and a donor. I don't know why, but I just knew it." And indeed she was right, she got tested and was a match! To make the situation even better, the mayor's insurance covered both her surgery, and Mr. Sanchez's. 

Both surgeries went with out a problem and each made a full recovery!
It is without a doubt that Mayor April Capone Almon truly strives to make a difference in her community.

For more information visit Hip Hop Wired

Mayor Cory Booker

Cory Booker

"When Chuck Norris has nightmares, Cory Booker turns on the light & sits with him until he falls asleep!"

Photo Courtesy of: Red, Black, and Blue

Cory Booker is the mayor of the city of Newark in New Jersey, but recently he has received the new title of "super-mayor." The story of his heroism has blown up social media, especially twitter with #corybookerstories. 

Mayor Booker was on his way home when he noticed flames and smoke coming to the building next door. Cory and three members of his security team went into the house and tried to get everyone out, unfortunately someone was upstairs. Mayor Booker went back into the house, although a police officer voiced his objections, and carried the woman out of the burning building. 

Cory suffered from both smoke inhalation and second degree burns on his hand. 

Cory Booker shies away from the title of hero, although if you look at his history, it is obvious that he is one. Him running into the burning building was not his first act of heroism, eight years ago Cory had ran toward a gun shot while on a walk one night when he came across 19 year old Wazn Miller. Booker put pressure on his wound and held the teenager until he died. 

Cory Booker himself went out to help the citizens of his town after a snow storm. He went outside and shoveled sidewalks, buying diapers and necessities and delivering them to families who could not get to the stores. 

Mayor Cory Booker is not only a good mayor, but a person to be admired for his courage and eagerness to help those in need.

For more information: Washington Post 

Gloria Steinem

Gloria Steinem

"A woman without a man is like a fish without a bicycle."

~Gloria Steinem

Gloria Steinem is a well known and brilliant activist, writer, and editor. While she herself had once been a Playboy bunny, Gloria has always put herself at the forefront of almost all female rights debates. Gloria founded the Women's Action Alliance which helped promote equal rights and assist other women on projects sharing similar goals to further the rights of women. This program was later responsible for the opening of battered women shelters. In 1970, when the Senate was debating the Equal Right's amendment, Gloria was a featured speaker.
 Gloria helped found New York Times Magazine where she wrote on politics and other featured issues. She also was co-founded the magazine Ms.She has wrote many different books over time on varying topics from Marilyn Monroe to U.S. women's history.
She has also made documentaries on pressing issues such as child abuse and the death penalty while she has had shows about her life on TV as well.
Gloria is one woman who has NEVER been afraid to speak her mind. She voiced her opinions on reproductive freedom for females and criticized pornography. 
 She did not limit herself to protesting for women's rights in the 1960's and1970's, but later went on to advocate for minority rights along side Corretta Scott King and Cesar Chavez. She urged for gay rights after Vietnam,  pressed for the end of "cruelty, fraud, and waste" in animal testing, and spoke out against genital mutilation and female trafficking in other countries.
Gloria Steinem, although controversial in some of her beliefs, never let that stop her from saying what she thought and the need for change. 


"The truth will set you free, but it will first piss you off" 
~Gloria Steinem

Stephen Hawking

Stephen Hawking

"My expectations were reduced to zero when I was 21. Everything since then has been a bonus."

~Stephen Hawking

I don't know if being a genius should necessarily make one a hero, but in my eyes, Stephen Hawking is a hero and so much more. Although he refers to those who brag about their IQ to be "losers", Hawking scored in the 200's. Having studied at both Oxford and Cambridge, he later went on to share his genius with others by working on theories and proofs.

 In 1963 he was told he would only live two more years after he was diagnosed with ALS (amyotrophic lateral sclerosis). Instead of dying, Hawking assisted in creating theories in gravitational relativity which were based off mathematical work done by Albert Einstein. Stephen Hawking's brilliance is often compared to that of Einstein.

Hawking also has described the three qualities of a black hole (mass, angular momentum, and electrical charge) and how the Big Bang could have been followed by black holes. He created a model to show the universe with now space-time boundary, and many other scientific theories.
Hawkings has written multiple books describing his work such as "The Grand Decision" and "A Brief History of Time." He has been honored a large amount of internationally recognized awards since the 1970's including recieving the Presidential Medal of Freedom which has been awarded to such people as Mother Theresa and Prime Minister Margaret Thatcher.

I think Stephen Hawking's hard work and focus on intellect is something to be admired, even more so his enjoyment of sharing that information as a professor. 

Malya Villard-Appolon

Malya Villard-Appolon

In 2010, after earthquakes struck Haiti, Alvana was left homeless like many others. During this time Alvana was gan rapped on the street. She did not know where to turn to until a friend told her about the KOFAVIV clinic. The KOFAVIV clinic is rub by the Commission of Women, Victims for Victims. They provided the pregnant Alvana with food, water, housing, and even prenatal cared. 

It was stories like Alvana's that caused Malya Villard-Appolon to cofound KOFAVIV in 2004 in order to help women in this country and give them a voice against rape. This cause was very personal to Malya, who was a victim of rape on two different occasions, her husband was killed trying to protect her, and her daughter was later raped in a displacement camp when only 14 years old. 

Malya encourages other rape victims to come forward and talk about their rapes. KOFAVIV provides assistance to rape victims as well as protection, psychological counseling, and legal aid. KOFAVIV says it is extremely common that rapes go unreported in Haiti. It became a lot worse after the earthquake left many people homeless and more vulnerable to violent attacks.

To learn more visit: CNN Real Hero Malya Villard-Appolon

Taryn Davis

Taryn Davis

Taryn Davis made it through one of the most difficult circumstances I could ever imagine. Finding out her husband, Corporal Michael Davis was killed while serving in Iraq.

She did not immediately know what to do or where she should turn. She even googled her new title of "widow" in hopes of finding some help at getting through her grief, only to be given the response "did you mean window?" Once she realize that most people did not like talking about their new title, she decided to try to connect with young women like herself who had lost a husband or fiancé and make a documentary of her encounters with the other widows she met.

Taryn created The American Widow Project, helping widows support other widows of soldiers. So far this project has helped over 700 widows from the war offering things like peer-to-peer retreats and counseling. She also uses different social networks that the wives had gotten used to using to connect to their husbands to share memories with one another and connect to other widows across the nation.

"My fellow military widows have shown me that we are far more than the sum of our tragedy"
~Taryn Davis 

Nick Vujicic

"If you can't get a miracle, become one"

~Nick Vujicic "Life Without Limits"

Nick Vujicic is an Australian man with the most beautiful outlook on life. Nick was born to two loving parents in 1982, but unlike most people, he was born without arms or legs due to a rare disease known as tetra-amelia.

Nick does not let his disability define him, instead he uses it to add humor to his inspirational speeches.

Nick lives by one simple principle "never give up!" I could not imagine the difficulties this man must have faced growing up and going to school. He smiles more than anyone I have ever personally met and tries to encourage others to do the same.

Nick lives his life to the fullest and does not let his lack of limbs stop him! He attempts to reach as many people as possible and encourages them to embrace life and never feel as though they are not good enough.

Although at one time he did not believe he would ever be a husband, in February he married his gorgeous wife, Kanae Miyahara.