Making an Impact - Suzanne McLamb

Kate Castellaw, a former Portage Learning student, recently reached out to tell us about her friend, Suzanne, who is indeed an inspiration.

“Hi! I would like to nominate a friend of mine, Suzanne McLamb, who should be publicly recognized for being a positive example, helping and serving others!

We are both starting Emory Accelerated Nursing program this coming Fall and a mutual friend connected the two of us when we were both accepted.  We had an instant connection, both of us embarking on our “Second Act” and making career changes and going back to college in our 40s.  

So, we have taken a few Portage Learning prerequisites class “together” and it has been so nice having an instant friend in my nursing cohort months before it even starts. I’m glad to have a fellow “mama bear” friend and going to the open house and Admitted Students’ Day at Emory was much easier with a fellow mom with two kids :)!

We instantly connected on social media, and I just wanted to give her some positive praise for offering to make masks for anyone in the community that may want them.  I knew she was crafty with a sewing machine and just wanted to say that her heart is so kind and genuine.  She is also now homeschooling two kids and just trying to adjust to this new normal like everyone else, but she offered help to anyone in need and is sewing as many masks as she can for our community in Atlanta.  She also only posts GOOD NEWS on her Facebook feed and everything I see always makes me smile. 

She is just a kind person in a world that is full of skepticism and fear these days! She epitomizes the example of being a helper in a quote from Fred Rogers, “When I was a boy and I would see scary things in the news, my mother would say to me, ‘Look for the helpers. You will always find people who are helping.’”