To Inspire:   “Memories of my childhood live/between the rings of sand around my ankles/and the desert heat in my lungs. I still believe that nothing washes/worry from tired skin better than the Nile/and my grandma’s hands. That’s an excerpt from “People Like Us,” a poem by 26-year-old Emtithal “Emi” Mahmoud, an internationally regarded poet […]

To Inspire: Rick Rigsby, a minister, motivational speaker, author and former college professor, gave the graduation speech at a commencement ceremony at Cal Maritime a few years ago. At the time, he had four degrees and his brother was a Judge, but he considered his father to be the wisest person he had ever met. […]

To Inspire: What do you do with a philosophy degree from Yale? That’s easy – become a cross-country truck driver. Seem a bit strange? Well that’s exactly what Tony Blake did back in 1993. One of the best African-American swimmers in the history of the Ivy League, when Tony failed to make the U.S. Olympic […]

To Inspire: Being helpful is always the right move, whether that means investing your time, money or energy. While it may be more challenging to help right now, it’s really more important than ever. But not only does being helpful make the world a little bit better, it actually can make you physically better. Here […]

To Inspire:  Bruce Feiler has long explored the stories that give our lives meaning. Galvanized by a personal crisis, he spent the last few years crisscrossing the country, collecting hundreds of life stories of Americans in all 50 states who have been through major life changes—from losing jobs to losing loved ones; changing careers to […]

To Inspire: What makes a good life? Many people surveyed have said money or fame. Some have said success at work. But Robert Waldinger gave a Ted Talk to discuss a Harvard research project that has actually lasted more than 75 years studying this exact topic. Since 1938, researchers have studied two groups of men, […]

To Inspire: Have you ever seen the Giant Sequoias in the northwestern United States? Also known as Redwoods, they are among the world’s largest and oldest trees – often growing to 300 feet in height (the height of a 26-story office building); 35 feet in width; and with bark that can be 3 feet thick! […]

To Inspire: We’re heading into this Fourth of July weekend with a history lesson on the Statue of Liberty and a story of perseverance by an American craftsman. The Statue of Liberty, as most of you probably know, was gifted to the United States by France, in honor of the U.S. centennial of independence. Built […]

To Inspire:   The motivational speaker and author Napoleon Hill wrote that “within every problem or obstacle lays the seed of an equal or greater opportunity or benefit.” And Norman Vincent Peale used to say, “When God wants to send you a gift, He wraps it up in a problem. And the bigger the gift […]

To Inspire: Most people who attend college pick a major, get a degree, and work in that occupation for the rest of their lives. Especially when the chosen major is something like Accounting. Today I want to share the story of a person who received an Accounting degree from Purdue University, but quickly pivoted to […]