Collette Divitto, 30, who was born with Down syndrome, studied hard and completed the Clemson University’s LIFE program a year early. Soon after, she decided to leave her family home in Ridgefield, CT, and move to Boston to live on her own.
That’s when her dreams were met with disappointment - Collette was rejected at all job interviews she attended. But that minor setback couldn't stop her. She became even more resolved to pursue her dreams.
After no one would hire her, Collette turned her baking hobby into a booming business named Collettey’s. Now her customers can purchase Collettey’s cookies at locations in Massachusetts, California, and Connecticut, and also online.
“My favorite part of my company is creating more jobs for people with all types of disabilities,” Collette said. “…Do not let people bring you down and do not give up on your careers and dreams because when one door closes, another door opens.”
13-year-old Jaequan Faulkner sold $2 hot dogs with $1 soda and chips outside his home in Minneapolis, MN. His goal was to earn money for school clothes.
Unexpectedly, someone sent an email complaint with the Minneapolis Health Department about his business. But even though he was in violation, authorities didn't close down his stand.
Instead, they equipped him with thermometers, food containers, hand sanitizer, and utensil-cleaning stations. They also offered guidance on proper food handling and even covered the $87 cost for his "short-term food permit."
All of this support caused his business to flourish. He began selling "between 100 to 150 hot dogs a day."
“My auntie always told me, ‘Can’t nobody stop you but you.’ If you say ‘I can’t do that,’ well, then you just set yourself up for failure.”
Adhara Pérez of Mexico City was diagnosed on the autism spectrum at the age of 3. Her condition can cause difficulties in social interactions.
Adhara, now 9, shared that the children at school often bullied her and called her a “weirdo” and an “oddball”. On seeing how unusually smart her daughter was, Adhara’s mom, Nallely Sanchez, decided to take her to therapy.
That is where her IQ was tested and estimated at 162 - slightly higher than that of Einstein and Stephen Hawking (both estimated at about 160).
Following a special studying plan, Adhara finished middle school by the age of 6, and high school by the age of 8. At present, she is earning 2 degrees online - one in industrial engineering in mathematics and one in systems engineering.
Jennifer Rocha, a recent graduate from the University of California San Diego, chose a very special way to honor her parents. Her mom and dad are migrants, and they have been working hard for years to support their three daughters' education.
Jennifer took her graduation photos in the fields where her parents spend their days working, hoping that her story will serve as an inspiration for other immigrant families.
“I wanted to take those pictures out there, specifically in the field, because that’s what made me go to college,” Jennifer commented.
“My parents being migrant workers were able to have three girls get their college education, and you can do it too, and your kids can.”
Every weekend, Kayzen Hunter, 8, goes for breakfast with his grandfather or his family at the Waffle House in Little Rock, AR.
His favorite waiter there is Devonte Gardner, a father of two daughters. As the family really like Devonte and his positive outlook on life, they always sit in his section at the restaurant.
When Kayzen found out that Devonte was having difficulties and he was walking to work, the young boy decided to start a GoFundMe page with his mother’s help.
Kayzen hoped to raise about $5,000 for Devonte to buy a car. The page quickly collected more than $115,000.
That was enough for Devonte and his family to move from the motel they were living into a better apartment.
“I’m gonna save the rest because I want to put my daughters in a good school, I want them to be in a good environment,” Devonte commented.
Liz Smith, a 40-year-old nurse at Franciscan Children’s Hospital in Brighton, MA, had always wanted to be a mother. She had tried several different methods of getting pregnant, including sperm donation and IVF (in vitro fertilization) procedure. But nothing worked.
In 2016 she met little Gisele, who was a baby at the time. She was born prematurely at 29 weeks and had neonatal abstinence syndrome (NAS) due to narcotics exposure during the pregnancy. Gisele weighed only 1 pound and 14 ounces (850g). Liz visited the baby every day, but no one else came to see her for five months.
The state took away custody of Gisele from her birth parents, so Liz decided to start fostering her. Her love for the little girl grew even more. On October 18, 2018, she legally adopted Gisele, giving her the surname Smith.
Valenti offered to pay $150 of his own money for a gym membership, instead of arresting the kid. He said he’d rather have the boy shooting hoops instead of “being on the street and possibly getting into trouble”.
"It seems like all that's represented (in the news) with police is the bad stuff, and it's a shame, because when I took this job 23 years ago, I didn't think everyone was going to hate you, which is sometimes the feeling you get as a police officer," Valenti told the Chicago Tribune.
53-year-old Joseph Sonnier always planned to go to college after high school. However, due to family circumstances he couldn’t continue his education. After taking various jobs, he started work as a janitor at Port Barre Elementary School in Port Barre, LA.
One day, the school principal, Wesley Jones, had a chat with Sonnier. “I think you’d benefit the students better as an educator,” the principal told him.
Sonnier took his advice and went back to school while working full-time.
His strenuous efforts paid off. He graduated with an associate’s degree in 2006 from Louisiana State University Eunice, and in 2008, he received his bachelor’s degree at the University of Louisiana. Then he went for a master’s degree at the same university.
Years later, Sonnier is now principal at the same school he had worked as a janitor for 27 years.
Sabrina Plannerer, from Mogi das Cruzes, Brazil, and her partner purchased a Shell gas station. Soon, they noticed a wandering dog around it, abandoned by his previous owners. So they adopted him and named him Negão. They bought him a new leash, a dog house, and even made him an official employee with its ID card.
“Negão waits for people to arrive, and then goes up to say hello, winning them over with his charms. Customers love him,” Sabrina commented.
Singer Billy Joel was disappointed that the best seats at his concerts were always full of unimpressed rich people.
"The guy's there with the girlfriend...'Okay, Piano Man, entertain me,' and they don't do anything. It was a drag and you'd hear all the kids yelling in the back and you know they didn't get a shot at those tickets," Joel explains.
That is why he decided to create a new policy for those front seats. He now holds the tickets and sends his road crew to the back of the room to bring people from the worst seats to the front rows.
"This way you've got people in the front row that are really happy to be there, real fans," he added.
Carrie Hannah, director at the Delmar College of Hair and Esthetics in Canada, was very surprised when an elderly man entered the salon. But the man, who did not want to be identified, didn’t ask for a haircut. He wanted to join an upcoming beauty lesson.
“He started to explain that his wife was struggling with her vision right now, and was struggling to curl her own hair and was burning herself. He really wanted to help her,” Hannah commented.
She gave him an impromptu lesson in curling hair and applying mascara. “We really needed some cheering up, and he sure did it,” she added.
When Nicole Renae turned 10, her grandma surprised her with a sweet gray dog which she named Chloe. “I just loved her to death,” Nicole told The Dodo. “She was my best friend.”
Some time passed and sadly, due to unfortunate circumstances Chloe had to be sent to a local shelter. Years went by. Nicole grew up, got married and had a daughter of her own.
One day, she ran across a Facebook post about a senior dog in need of a home. The dog looked a lot like Chloe and had the same name. Nicole decided to adopt the senior dog and brought her home.
“She just ran to me and started licking my face,” Nicole said. The appearance, the mannerisms, the name - all of it made her convinced that was actually her Chloe, the dog from her childhood. “Everybody thought I was crazy,” she recalls
She visited the veterinarian’s office where Chloe was microchipped all those years ago to check her ID. “The numbers were an exact match. It was her,” Nicole said excitedly. “I’m so happy to have her back.”
In 1994 social documentary photographer Sebastião Salgado took over family land in Minas Gerais, Brazil. But instead of the tropical paradise he remembered as a child, the trees were cut down and there were no wild animals left. This combined with his last assignment - reporting on the genocide in Rwanda - left him devastated.
His wife came up with an idea - why not recruit partners, raise funds and restore the forest? And so they did.
Now, about two decades later, the results of their long and hard work are evident. Almost 3 million trees have completely transformed the environment.
Many species found a home in the new Salgado forest. Of the 127 bird species identified, six are endangered. There are also 33 species of mammals, two of which are endangered worldwide, 15 species of amphibians, 15 species of reptiles and 293 species of plants.
Even after their success, the Salgado’s aren’t planning to stop any time soon. Their next goal is to increase the number of plant and animal species beyond their land and increase biodiversity in the region around it.
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