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Alum and Students Make Four Home Runs at the Boston Marathon
Our students (and alums) are beyond fantastic. We all know that. They are highly recruited, so smart, and destined to be leaders. Today, I want to take a moment and to recognize a few members of our community, who have demonstrated exemplary leadership through their participation in this year's Boston Marathon. I admire their effort so much and believe they have hit a "home run" for themselves and for the Institute. See what you think:
Home Run Number 1: First off, CSD 2007 alum, Janis Greim decided to combine her passion for running and her commitment to the IHP into a remarkable memorial for her classmate, Chris Norman, (CSD 2007), who passed away suddenly last year. Janis, who now lives in Pennsylvania, and works as a speech-language pathologist for a rehabilitation agency, entered the Boston Marathon with a goal of raising funds in memory of Chris. When the Norman family heard of this, they developed a matching challenge to inspire Janis' classmates, faculty, and others to make a donation. At the end of the 26 mile run, Janis' leadership inspired over $15,000 of commitment for future students in CSD! Janis, now back at home, sent a wonderful message yesterday, and in it she said : ..." But running is really the pinnacle of the sport, it decides who wins and tests you when you’re at your most vulnerable point in the race. More than that though, by itself, running is such an innately natural part of who we are as humans. And it occurred to me, Chris taught me that. He taught me about running. It has become such a powerful medium for expression. People run out of anger, fear, pain, boredom, joy, excitement, worry, love. . . Running is colorful, just like Chris. That’s why I think he was drawn to it. So at the end of the day, I think I’m lucky for having gone through all of this. I got to learn something about Chris and something about myself.
"the trek from Hopkinton to Boston was an indescribable journey for me and there so many faculty, family, and classmates cheering along the way!" She went on..."
"Throughout the race I was cognizant that I was representing the IHP...... I have had the privilege of working (in PT) with clients from the Aphasia Center and I was amazed by their fortitude and will."
"I started off feeling strong, but at about mile 14 I hit a bad patch mentally and started to doubt my ability to finish. I was actually looking around for the next Red Cross station and thinking no shame, no blame, just take the bus back to the Mandarin. Then something just kicked in. There were no angelic voices, no super burst of speed, I just started thinking about the Spaulding tagline "find your strength" . Focusing on finding my strength helped me turn it around, kept me off the bus and after 6 plus hours on the course led me to the finish line. "
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