Who are our heroes? We all have personal definitions, but mine is pretty simple. If you are willing to serve the public good and your reward is not necessarily financial; if you do some small (or large) good deed with little compensation other than the reward of public service, you are a hero. On Sunday, 60 Minutes (my favorite show) focused on one such hero, Jonathan Starr. He has formed an academy in Somaliland for high school students, and this area is one of the most under-served parts of the world. He basically takes these students off the streets, immerses them in language (they have to learn English) and then all the academics. One boy, for example, was a goat herder and now will soon be graduating from MIT. All of Starr students have gotten into great American colleges, and all the girls are driven and ambitious. These are young women who would ordinarily be married now.
As for Starr, he was a hedge fund manager who felt his life was meaningless. Now he feels his life has a purpose, and he has given these young people a purpose, too. The only sad part, one which had me in tears; the next graduating class may not get into an American university because of Trump's horrendous travel restrictions. In between my tears, I prayed that our government will do the right thing.
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