​Born in Norwich, Connecticut, Logan Gdula was selected number 13 by FC Cincinnati in the 2019 Major League Soccer (MLS) SuperDraft in Chicago. That was one of his best days ever. Since then, he has gone from a high to a personal low. 
 
Logan last played professional soccer in the fall of 2022 for the Hartford Athletic in the United Soccer League Championship. He is out of the game, and his confidence has been tested. 

​Jaquann Starks remembers March 4, 2016, as if it was yesterday. The Hartford native and Trinity College senior guard was sitting on the bench—it was the coach’s decision—watching his teammates battle a nail-biter in the NCAA DIII first-round basketball tournament. 
 
Jaquann was used to being in the middle of the action, whether on the court or in life. With the game on the line in the closing minutes against Johnson & Wales, the kid who grew up doing everything first for his family and others could do nothing to help. 

​Personal trainer Billie Burgess sets her Amazon Alexa to wake her up every morning to Whitney Houston’s song, “I’m Every Woman.” The lyrics fill her studio apartment—and her soul: “I’m every woman, it’s all in me. Anything you want done, baby. I’ll do it naturally.” 
 
The music inspires Billie. ”It lets me know who I am right now and what I can do,” she says. The daily inspiration is like a hot air balloon hovering over mountains.