“Courage is contagious. When a brave man takes a stand, the spines of others are often stiffened.”

So many of you exhibit courage. It has not gone unnoticed. While the effect on others is invisible to you, you have empowered, emboldened, and strengthened others by your bravery. I am just one person impacted.

I’ve watched you pick yourself up after great tragedies and put one foot in front of the other again, resuming a life forever altered. I’ve observed you endure the small but relentless blows of life, too, determined to not let them beat you, or define you, or deny you.

I’ve marveled at your courage to begin new careers and ventures and fields of study, often not by choice but born of necessity. Some of you did that because your first choice, your preferred life, dissolved before your eyes. Still, you found Plan B, or C, or D…