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Scott Hamilton
Olympic Hall of Fame
The World Championships is a place for you to really compete and try to beat other skaters from other countries. At the Olympic Games you are representing the United States. It's a different whole. It's the same skaters, same judges, same size of ice, same music, same everything, same format, same, same, but the one thing that is different is: It's the Olympic Games, and you're sharing your successes and failures with everyone that's a U.S. citizen. And it's theirs, it belongs to them. So when I sit up on the podium and I get my medal and I get to hear my anthem and to see my flag raised, I'm the point person for millions and millions of people, that can for that moment in time just feel pride that one of their own did okay. And you feel like you have like 100 million parents and 100 million brothers and sisters and you share it.
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Scott Hamilton
Olympic Hall of Fame
What I didn't know is how many people you touch when you achieve a certain level of success in anything. You touch thousands and millions of people and you affect them. And you don't maybe know them, but they know you. And what I had no idea was that all those hours I was spending tracing compulsory figures and pushing myself through a long program in altitude, all that work would touch so many people and that my life would never be that again. When you walk down the street and people know who you are. That you've touched people and inspired them, maybe somebody that may be struggling with something. You connect with them somehow. It makes their life a little bit better. I had no idea that any of this was possible. Or that, anything I would ever do would affect anybody. And that's the one thing I've learned through the whole process of winning competitions, and going to the Olympics, and being a pro and really trying to direct the sport in new ways and creating new opportunities, is that when you touch a lot of people, it's like that George Bailey thing from It's A Wonderful Life. You touch people, and you change things and you affect them.
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Scott Hamilton
Olympic Hall of Fame
I think the American Dream is that you can do whatever you want with your life. You can pave your own path, you can do whatever you want, and you're free to do that. If you want to be a brain surgeon, you can be a brain surgeon. If you want to live on a beach, you can live on a beach. If you want to, you can do whatever you want and every life is unique. Everybody that lives in this country has their own story, has their own talent, their own ability, their own desires and interests and tastes, and they have the opportunity to explore those without any restriction.
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Sir Edmund Hillary
Conqueror of Mt. Everest
Sir Edmund Hillary: I would advise them to aim high. To set their sights at a pretty tough target and don't be too worried if you're not successful at first. Just keep persisting and keep improving your standards, getting better and better and ultimately, you've got a pretty fair chance at achieving your desired goal. I am not one of those people who believe, for instance, that every American could, if they so wish, become President of the United States. I mean, there's a limited number of Presidents of the United States and, obviously, only a few are going to achieve that. But, I do think that virtually everybody that's born has the ability to be very competent at doing something. I think that, in itself, is worthy of aiming towards, just to be competent at doing anything you particularly wish to do.
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David Ho
AIDS Research Pioneer
Only in America would a 37 year-old be given that opportunity to become an institute director. I think the culture overall here is enlightened enough to be able to give responsibility to a young person without that much regard for age and with greater emphasis on merit, on potential, and such things. It's in many ways an amazing experience. I've done well. I was working hard. I had a certain vision of what I wanted to do and those things fitted well with the goals of the new institute. So, I was given the chance and I believe I've taken advantage of that golden opportunity.
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David Ho
AIDS Research Pioneer
Just coming back to my own area, AIDS, it's now a problem largely of developing countries. A vaccine would probably have not made that much of a difference to the United States, but yet the vaccine research for AIDS is almost entirely funded by U.S. money. So it's taken the broader view, that this is a problem for the world and therefore we're going to solve it. And, this is not limited to AIDS. Malaria is not much of a problem, yet we're taking it on, same with tuberculosis and so on and so forth. The past few years, as I had more and more chance to reflect upon my career so far and my life so far, I've come to appreciate much more of what this country is.
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