I’ll never amount to anything!

I’m from Nowheresville.

Birthplace Matters?

Can you locate Qinghai,

Inkandla, Nambour,

Agusta, Mineola or

Waterville on a map?

Nowheresville is Everywhere

It’s not where you are from that makes you what

you are.

What you become is up to YOU.

If it were different, the following people would not be “where” they are now.

The 2008 Time 100

Leaders and Revolutionaries

14th Dalai Lama Qinghai, China

Vladimir PutinLeningrad, USSR

Barack ObamaHonolulu, Hawaii

Hillary ClintonChicago, IL

John McCainCoco Solo Naval Air Station, Panama Canal Zone

Hu JintaoJiangyan, China

George W. BushNew Haven, CT

Jacob ZumaInkandia, KwaZulu-NatalSouth Africa

Anwar IbrahimCherok Tok KunMalaya

Kevin RuddNambour, Queensland,Australia

Bartholomew IImbros,Turkey

Ben BernankeAugust, GA

Muqtada al-SadrBaghdad, Iraq

Robert GatesWichita, KS

Michelle BacheletSantiago, Chile

Sonia GandhiLusiana, Veneto,Italy

Baitullah MehsudBannu District, NWFP, Pakistan

Evo MoralesOrinoca, Bolivia

Ma Ying-JeouKowloon, Hong Kong

Ashfaq KayaniGujar Khan Tehsil, Punjab,Pakistan

Heroes and Pioneers

Angelina JolieLos Angeles, CABrad PittShawnee, OK

Oprah WinfreyChicago, IL

Oscar PistoriusSandton, Johannesburg, Gauteng, South Africa

Mia FarrowLos Angeles, CA

Lance ArmstrongPlano, TX

Andre AgassiLas Vegas, NV

Bob and Suzanne WrightMineola, NY

Peter GabrielChobham, Surrey,England

KakáBrasilia, Brazil

Sheik Mohammed al-MaktoumDubai, United Arab Emirates

Yoani SánchezHavana, Cuba

Madeeha Hasan OdhaibIraq

Randy PauschBaltimore, MD

Lorena OchoaGuadalajara, Mexico

Tony BlairEdinburgh, ScotlandUnited Kingdom

Alexis SinduhijeBujumbura, Burundi

Aung San Suu KyiRangoon, British Burma

George MitchellWaterville, ME

Scientists and Thinkers

Michael BloombergBoston, MA

Craig VenterSalt Lake City, UT

Jill Bolte TaylorTerre Haute, IN

Larry BrilliantDetroit, MI

Jeff HanStudied at NY University

Mehmet OzCleveland, OH

Nancy BrinkerPeoria, IL

Harold McGeeSchenectady, NY Peter Pronovost

Waterbury, CT

Eric Chivian andRichard CizikUSA

Mary Lou JepsenHas MS from MIT

Paul AllenSeattle, WA

Nicholas SchiffMD from Stanford

Mark ZuckerbergWhite Plains, NY

Wendy KoppAustin, TX

Shinya YamanakaOsaka, JapanJames ThomasonOak Park, IL

Michael GriffinAberdeen, MD

Susan SolomonChicago, IL

Isaac BerzinEducated in Israel

Artists and Entertainers

Lorne MichaelsToronto, OntarioCanada

Miley CyrusNashville, TN

Robert Downey, Jr.New York City, NY

Herbie HancockChicago, IL

Joel and Ethan CoenSt. Louis Park, MN

Bruce SpringsteenLong Branch, NJ

Peter GelbNew York City, NY

Mariah CareyHuntington, Long Island, NY

Khaled HosseiniKabul, Afghanistan

Elizabeth GilbertWaterbury, CT

Rem KoolhaasRotterdam, Netherlands

Judd ApatowFlushing, NY

Alex RidopulosHas a degree from MITEran EgozyIsrael

George ClooneyLexington, KY

Tim RussertBuffalo, NY

Suze OrmanChicago, IL

Stephenie MeyerHartford, CT

Tyler PerryNew Orleans, LA

Tom SoppardZlín, Czechoslovakia

Chris RockAndrews, SC

Takashi MurakamiTokyo, Japan

Builders and Titans

Indra NooyiChennai, Tamil NaduIndia

Ali al-NaimiAlRakah, DhahranSaudi Arabia

Rupert MurdochMelbourne, VictoriaAustralia

Steve JobsSan Francisco, CA

RadioheadAbingdon, Oxfordshire, EnglandUK

John ChambersCleveland, OH

Jeff BezosAlbuquerque, NM

Jay AdelsonCalifornia

Steve BallmerDetroit, MI

Jamie DimonNew York City, NY

Prince Alwaleed bin TalalJeddah, Saudi Arabia

Jou JiweiBeijing, China

Neelie KroesRotterdam, Netherlands

Jeffrey ImmeltCincinnati, OH

Karl LagerfeldHamburg, Germany

Lloyd BlankfeinBronx, NY

Carlos SlimMexico City, Mexico

Mo IbrahimSudan

Ratan TataBombay Presidency,British India

Cynthia CarrollDegrees from Skidmore College, U of Kansas, Harvard University

Carine RoitfeldParis, France

Michael ArringtonGrew up in California and Surrey, England

Your birthplace may become a “most visited”

place some day.

You hold your future.

Make something of it.

Sources:http://www.time.com/time/specials/2007/0,28757,1733748,00.htmlhttp://www.wikipedia.org/

Dedicated to the kids everywhere (even Modoc, IN) that think they can’t be because of where they are.