Jonas Salk was one of the first creators of a vaccine, and spent his career developing vaccines against the flu and polio. In 1947 America had a major Polio epidemic, but Salk developed a vaccine that became widespread by 1955 and dramatically decreased the number of people that had Polio, especially among children. However, the main insight that was taken away from Salk was that he never took credit for his work. He helped save lives but did so out of his own generosity, and his selflessness is something we can all learn from.
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George Lucas was the creator of the Star Wars series, as well as the creator of many other well known movie franchise today including Indiana Jones. What is so remarkable about Lucas is that his very first box office hit was a low budget movie that ended up making a lot of money. But it was really his creativity and imagination, paired with his high emphasis on special effects, that lead him to create and produce the most successful movie franchise of all time. It also speaks volumes that in 2012 Lucas sold the rights to his production company to Walt Disney. Even though he had created many hits through his company, sometimes it is best to know when to let go. Lucas was successful because of his creativity, hard work, and daring to do something new and different that paid off in a big way.
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Eleanor was an opera singer at the Met, and was known for the fact that she had such a large vocal range that she could took on 33 different roles while at the Met. There is a lot to learn from Eleanor. First, she came from very humble beginnings in West Virginia and worked her way slowly to the Met, where she was very well known for her singing ability. Then, she also overcame disappointment with grace. When the Met did not renew her contract in 1963, instead of stopping to practice her passions, she turned to become a vocal teacher at prestigious institutions before opening up her own foundation to help young singers. She did not let adversity and disappointment stop her from making a difference to young singers, and her contribution is still being felt years after her death.
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Judith was labeled as “Miss Manners” by the Washington Post, but she should have been named “trailblazer”. Judith was a trailblazer for women in journalism, covering stories about women's rights during 1960s and 70s. It was journalism like this that got women’s issues into the news, instead of papers covering women’s rights stories “only as a joke”. She was a very strong willed woman that did not let preconceived notions stop her from covering the news she felt important, and in the end it made a huge difference. Having the power and motivation that Judith had especially in a male dominated industry like journalism is inspiring.
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Jimmy won 8 Grand Slam Championships and was very well known for his backhand. However, one of the reasons he says he has such a strong backhand is because of his very rough childhood that gave him “rage and revenge” that inspires his tough way of playing. This is a very good lesson on how to let tough experiences shape you to be a better person, instead of letting them tear you down. Even in the sketch you can see that he is very focused and very determined. His rough childhood shaped him to be a very good tennis player.
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