• Baylor grad running ‘MADD miles’ to honor mother, fight drunk driving

    [9/1/16 update: She did it!]

    Over the course of 1,000 miles, a runner has plenty of time to think — about her life, about the people who mean the most, about what motivates someone to run a distance equal to a trip from Waco to the outskirts of Chicago.

    As Emily Guberman, BS ’15, runs 1,000 miles over the course of the next year, she’ll be thinking about her mother, Cheryl. Six years ago, Emily — then a high-school student — was surprised to find someone other than her mother waking her up. That morning, it was her father who awoke her with life-changing news; her mother had been killed in an accident with a drunk driver.

    “Nothing was the same after that day,” Emily says. “I have days when it is difficult to accept everything, but changing the way I live my life has helped me cope immensely.” (Hear her story below.)

    One of those life changes is the constant awareness that no day is guaranteed, and each could be a last chance to make a difference in someone’s life. With that realization came a motivation — to honor her mother’s memory, and to keep others from having to wake up to the sort of tragic news she received. So, as of Sept. 1, Emily is running with a purpose beyond fitness or enjoyment. Over the course of the next year, she’s running 1,000 miles to raise money for Mothers Against Drunk Driving (MADD).

    She’s calling her effort “MADD Miles for Mom” — a chance to honor her mother’s memory and the impact she had on Emily, her siblings and those around her. To accomplish her goal, Emily will need to average just under three miles a day over the course of the year. It’s a tall challenge, but then, Emily is no stranger to accomplishment. Amidst the grief of her mother’s death, she came to Baylor and excelled, graduating cum laude in May with a degree in neuroscience. (She now works with first-generation college students in Baylor’s Paul L. Foster Success Center.)

    Last week, she broke the 100-mile mark of her journey, putting her ahead of schedule to reach her goal. With each mile, Emily is ensuring that a tragic moment in her own life is not the end of a story, but a beginning — a story where she one day wakes up “to find a world where alcohol does not override safe decisions … and we never have to worry about the lives of the innocent.”

    Sic ’em, Emily!

    [We learned of this story from a Bear who shared her Baylor pride. Do you know of an inspiring story, news item, or just a fun link that makes you proud of Baylor and the Baylor family? Let us know! Click here to submit your point of pride!]