Dear Alumni and Friends,

Inspiration can take many forms, strike at any moment and come from any number of people, places or things in our daily life. There are inspirational messages in our literature, in philosophy and math, in a well-written, well-delivered speech or in just one key word or phrase. Inspiration can be seen in art or through the eyes of the artist. It can come from our teachers, our friends and our colleagues, and especially our families—through our parents’ guidance, a supportive mate or the smile only a child can smile. Inspiration in its purest form knows no limits, makes no excuses, has no substitutes and speaks the strongest from one individual to another. True inspiration passes inspiration on, going on to inspire something in someone else. It can change a life or create a life—it can transform a life in the process.

At the University of Northern Colorado, inspiration and the transforming of lives is everywhere—from the beauty of our campus to the wisdom of our professors to the dreams and aspirations of our students. Each moment at UNC our students are inspired; inspired by their majors, by professors that share their passions and by interacting with each other. It is the one instance when something so common can also be considered so unique.

Storytelling still has the greatest capacity to inspire and transform us and move us to action. Like students today, many of our alumni were first inspired here at UNC. They have taken that inspiration and turned it into careers as successful business people, activists and advocates. Their own stories of inspiration continue to inspire others today.

On our cover this issue, Tim Jorstad gained a great amount of inspiration from Professor McConnell, a man he is still friends with today, more than 30 years after Jorstad himself left Greeley to pursue his dreams. Today, Jorstad is “Accountant to the Rock Stars,” with clients that have included Carlos Santana, the Grateful Dead and Jefferson Airplane. He is proof that with a little inspiration, anyone can create their own instrumental; a beautiful score to live their life that can transform others.

UNC alumna Sharon Lee Parker is inspiration embodied. Not only is her story inspirational, but her spirit empowering and positive; her attitude and selflessness beyond compare. Her own battle against multiple cancers is well-documented in her book, Look Out Cancer, Here I Come! Now, fully recovered, Parker is a cancer patient advocate, motivational speaker and a light of hope for every person who is lucky enough to meet her.

And whether a Democrat, Republican or None of the Above, you cannot deny our own country’s inspirational spirit, as the nation inaugurated its first African American President. There is an inescapable magnitude in this historic event, a magnitude certainly not lost on Carlotta LaNier ’68, a member of the Little Rock Nine, a group of black students who integrated Central High School in 1957. Hers is a case where inspiration comes out of courage.

Inspiration, whether you keep it in your heart or pass it on, can take us on an incredible journey. And, if we’re lucky, it will even take our breath away when we least expect it.

Each of us have the ability to inspire and transform lives, one life at a time.

We’d love to hear from you. Send letters to northernvision@unco.edu or Northern Vision, University of Northern Colorado, Judy Farr Alumni Center, Campus Box 20, Greeley, CO 80639.