Sam is a former Sacramento State Football student-athlete who received his Bachelor of Arts degree in Sociology. He played as a true freshman and also played every season while at Sacramento State. During his time at Sacramento State he experienced various challenges and adversities that contributed to his development as a person beyond being an athlete. Sam is currently working towards his Master’s in School Counseling and formerly worked in the Student Athlete Resource Center as a Mentor. He was able to bring forth his experiences as a former athlete to help the current generation of athletes, both from an academic and student-athlete life perspective. Sam strives to develop youth, student-athletes and the community and to empower, inspire and equip them with necessary tools to thrive.

Lauren is a current student-athlete on the Sacramento State track and field team. Lauren started track and field her freshman year of high school and fell in love with the sport. She is entering her third and final year at Sac State studying Psychology and after graduation in the spring, Lauren will be pursuing a masters degree related to sports psychology. Her goals include pursuing a Ph.D. in clinical or counseling psychology to ultimately serve as a clinical sport psychologist. Lauren’s time so far on the track team has been fraught with injuries, yet she speaks to the valuable experiences learned in navigating college both as a student and athlete.

Begin a journey of healing. Learn how to get back to better from challenging, even traumatic events, with the help of Dr. Joyce Mikal-Flynn as she describes her death event, the work and process needed to return to health and the 6 stages realized in her research on rehabilitation that became MetaHab. This is the introduction to subsequent interviews with six remarkable people that represent the respective stages of Metahab and post traumatic growth.

T.J. is the Director of Hospitality and National Sales for Anomaly Vineyards in St. Helena, CA. His passion for interacting with people led him to the Napa Valley 5 years ago where he met and married his wife, Dr. Jennifer Gonzales. They shared a passion for wine and wonderful memories with their friends and family. On March 9, 2018 TJ’s life was forever changed when he faced the untimely and tragic death of both his wife and unborn child, Cecilia Rose Shushereba. Dr. Gonzales-Shushereba worked as a clinical psychologist with the U.S. Department of Veterans Affairs, spending most of her time at the Pathway Home in Yountville, CA, a town close to Napa. Her clinical focus involved veterans in the aftermath of military service as they dealt with PTSD, providing academic and vocational programs to support their return to school and life. She was widely respected in the field and considered a PTSD expert.

Bill Finkbeiner is a well-known, talented and very successful ultra marathoner. Bill is married to Beth who also enjoys running and they have two grown children, Christian, 25 and Rachel, 21. At 61 years of age he had logged over 85,000 miles which included his 37 year record of consecutive daily runs as well as completing over 200 ultramarathons, 17 Western States 100-Mile Endurance runs, and fifty six (56) 100-mile trail races. In 2015, Bill was inducted into the Sacramento Running Association Hall of Fame. In 2017 Bill was out enjoying a run, something he has done daily since 1980, and was struck by a fast moving bicycle in a hit-and-run accident causing devastating effects. He suffered five facial fractures, a fractured skull, a broken hand, two broken teeth, and serious lacerations over much of his face and upper body. He has had a long road to recovery, but amazingly he was back on the trails the following year and has reinstituted his practice of daily runs.

Karlee Cemo-McIntosh is the Marketing and Business Development Manager for Sacramento365, a brand of Visit Sacramento. In late 2015 her sister Kristi, who lived in New Orleans, surviving Hurricane Katrina and its aftermath, was diagnosed with Acute Myeloid Leukemia (AML). This was Kristi and her family's first experience with blood cancer. Life changed dramatically for all during the 18+ months of treatments and therapies in her battle with this disease. As Kristi fought for her her life, the significant distance between them left Karlee with a feeling of helplessness. In 2017, to empower herself and her family and to support her sister, Karlee ran as a candidate for the Leukemia & Lymphoma Society’s Man & Woman of the Year, a 10-week fundraising campaign. Unfortunately, Kristi did not survive, losing her battle with cancer at the midpoint of the campaign. However, Karlee, with the support of her heartbroken family, went on to raise over $231,000 and was able to name and direct four $50,000 research grants in Kristi’s memory.

On April 18th, 2014, Lane Edward’s life dramatically changed while doing something he had done with great success throughout his life: he dove in head first. Lane was an avid traveller and in 2014 while visiting Thailand he went on a snorkeling excursion. An unfortunate miscommunication led to him diving off the boat into very shallow water, causing a C4 spinal fracture. Fortunately, a physician was on the boat at the time of the accident, stabilizing Lane and successfully moving him to a local clinic where he was later airlifted to a hospital in Bangkok for acute care. In early May, Lane was transported back to the USA and underwent surgery at the University of California, San Francisco Medical Center before undergoing extensive physical therapy at Valley Medical Center in San Jose, California.

Lane now has the benefit of many friends and family as well as a part time caretaker to help him through his daily routines and support his ongoing recovery process. Regardless of when or where you meet Lane, the same positive and brave characteristics resonate with everyone he interacts with, which is also at the core his nonprofit organization, Loving Lane. His organization's mission is to chronicle his ongoing recovery and support others who have suffered spinal cord injuries. Visit www.lovinglane.com to hear more about Lane and his progress.

Dave McGillivray is a U.S. based road race director, philanthropist, author, and accomplished athlete. In 1978, he ran across the U.S. to benefit the Jimmy Fund and Dana-Farber Cancer Institute. Since 1988, he has been the race director of the Boston Athletic Association (B.A.A.), Boston Marathon and completed 45 consecutive Boston Marathons, nine Hawaii IRONMAN triathlon and in 2018, became one of only 48 athletes to complete the World Marathon Challenge, completing 7 marathons on 7 continents in 7 days. He and his team at DMSE Sports, Inc.,which he founded in 1981, have organized more than 1,000 mass-participatory endurance events and raised millions for worthy causes close to his heart. Dave was the race director of the Boston Marathon in April of 2013 when two homemade pressure cooker bombs detonated near the finish line of the race, killing three people and injuring several hundred others, including 16 who lost limbs. Most recently, in October, 2018, Dave underwent open heart triple bypass surgery and is now focused on his recovery and reaching his goal of running the Boston Marathon in April of 2019. For more information about Dave or DMSE Sports, visit www.dmsesports.com.

Sentenced to 65 years in a Texas prison, Damon once had it all including a loving family who provided multiple opportunities to succeed in life. A natural born leader he was a three-year starting quarterback - an ‘All-American kid’ living his dream. However, underneath this pretense was a drug addict in the early stages of his disease. At nine years old he suffered childhood sexual abuse by a babysitter and started his use of alcohol to hide his pain. In 1999, Damon graduated from college and began his career with the U.S. Congress, participating in political fundraising for a presidential candidate and later took a job on Wall Street, training as a stockbroker for USB, a large international bank. It was during this time and at this job that Damon was introduced to methamphetamine. He became instantly addicted and in short time lost his job, family and became homeless. Moving back to Texas, he committed multiple drug related offenses, including property crimes to support his drug habit. On July 30, 2008, he was arrested by the Dallas SWAT team.

Released from prison in 2015, Damon worked to improve his life. In May of 2019, Damon is scheduled to graduate with a Masters in Criminal Justice from Lamar University. Also, since his release, he has worked for the Provost Umphrey Law Firm in Beaumont, TX. When not speaking to schools about the dangers of drugs, the consequences of bad decisions, and sharing his personal recovery, he does service work helping others in recovery, exercises regularly and enjoys his new life with family, friends and his faith community. His message is a cautionary tale but also one of perseverance and hope for a positive future in the face of the most extreme odds. Damon’s new book, titled The Change Agent can be found at www.damonwest.org.