Heroes Make Me Happy, Vol. II

Iqbal al Assad makes me happy:

Lebanese teenager Iqbal al Assad is, at 16, poised to become the youngest Arab doctor, after she was accepted to study at Weill Cornell Medical College in Qatar.

“It is extremely impressive to have her in class, a student so young and at the same time so mature and capable in handling a very challenging curriculum,” said Prof Marco Ameduri, a Weill Cornell physics professor who taught Iqbal in two premed courses in 2008.

Commenting on her success, al-Assad said "“I’m an example: I’m a woman, but still I made it. If you have the motivation and you have the abilities, no one’s going to stop you, whether you’re a woman or a man.”

Heroes Make Me Happy

Wynona Ward makes me happy. The founder of Have Justice Will Travel, this former truck driver and victim of abuse herself has devoted herself to helping victims of domestic abuse, often the poorest of the poor, escape abuse and start their lives anew. In fact, in the last 11 years, Have Justice Will Travel has helped 10,000 people.

Too often, all we hear about are the terrorists, murderers and rapists that make the world a bad place. It's nice to celebrate someone making the world a better place.