Happy Tuesday, and welcome back to another edition of Positive DONUT! 

I'm currently writing to you from Juneau, Alaska (I live in NYC but am here on vacation), and my travels this week really have me realizing just how small we are. 

As I hike these stunning Alaskan trails, I'm overwhelmed with my insignificance and connection to the world all at the same time. Nature tends to do that, doesn't it? I may be tiny compared to the mountains, but I may also be the world to someone out there. 

It turns out this feeling of insignificance isn't an uncommon feeling, and it can actually be much more positively empowering than you may think. Gandhi said that whatever you do in life will be insignificant, but it’s very important that you do it. Because nobody else will. 

So remember, no matter how small we may feel, we do matter. There's no one else like us or doing what we are doing – and that's what really matters🥰. 

Have a fantastic week! 

- Kailyn

🚀⏰ Ready, Set, Go: Today's newsletter takes ~2.99 minutes to read (797 words).

P.S. First time reading? Subscribe here for free. 

I exhale doubt, I inhale peace.

At seven years old, Dorothy Jean Tillman was completing high school-level work. 

She started taking college courses at ten; she earned her master's at fifteen.

Most recently, Dorothy defended her dissertation to earn a doctoral degree in integrated behavioral health from ASU's College of Health Solutions, officially becoming Dr. Dorothy Jean Tillman at seventeen years old. 

Backstory: Dorothy always loved school, challenging herself more and more with each degree out of a true love for learning. 

• "People in my life like my grandmother, who was part of the Civil Rights movement, she of course harped on the importance of education and consistently learning something always," Dorothy said. "But the way I always held education so high on my own, aside from being raised that way, was finding different things to be educated about."
• For her dissertation, she explored the stigma that prevents university students from getting mental health treatment. The teen's mission is to positively impact young people when it comes to their mental health.

On top of her studies, Dorothy also devotes time to running the Dorothy Jeanius STEAM Leadership Institute, which inspires hundreds of underserved young people in Chicago, as well as abroad in countries like Ghana and South Africa, to pursue STEAM careers.

⭐️ Bottom line: According to Dr. Lesley Manson, a clinical associate professor at ASU, Tillman is the youngest person in school history to earn a doctoral degree in integrated behavioral health.

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We all know about the Met Gala, but have you heard of the Pet Gala? 

No pawparrazzi, please... Fashion designer Anthony Rubio is the brains behind the night, in which he recreates some of the most iconic looks from the Met Gala to be donned by cute pooches.

• The fundraiser event raised money for The Museum of the Dog this year, where the fashion show was also held.

💬 What he's saying: "I watch the Met Gala religiously every year, and I study up everything about it." shared Anthony. "As soon as the show is over, I make a list of different garments that stand out to me. From there, I start going through the garments, the design. How can I interpret that for a dog? Remember, this is something to celebrate the dogs. It’s also to celebrate the designers that present at the Met Gala. This is not to make fun. This is a very serious matter.”

See more of the pawsitively fashionable looks here.

❤️‍🩹 A dying wish... 98-year-old Marine veteran Richard Remp had one wish while fighting cancer in hospice care: he wanted to graduate high school. The veteran had been sent to war before graduation in the '40s, and never received his diploma. After going above and beyond to make it happen, Sharon Schools Superintendent Justi Glaros hand-delivered an honorary diploma to Richard just before he passed. Read the whole story here (and make sure to have tissues handy). 

🪶 Birds of a feather... A single feather of the extinct huia bird recently sold for $28,417 at auction. The huia bird was considered sacred by the Māori people, and their feathers would adorn the headpieces of chiefs and their families.

🥖 When your mail can smell like bread... La Poste, the French postal service, released a new scratch-and-sniff stamp honoring the infamous French baguette. The postal service shared that the baguette is the “bread of our daily life, a symbol of our gastronomy, [and] the jewel of our culture." The stamps hit the market last Friday.

I've always been a night owl. Lately, though, I've been consciously working on building an enjoyable morning routine to get me up and going after my dreaded alarm goes off. 

Part of that morning routine includes 10-15 minutes of journaling to wake up my brain and check in with myself at the start of the day – and boy, oh, boy has it helped. 

✍️ Grab your pens... When I found these morning journaling prompts by mindmatterswithdiv, I was genuinely excited to get up and going with my daily journaling. Whatever time of the day it is for you, try out some of these prompts below. I'm sure you'll feel better – and more in touch with yourself and the world around you – by the end🥰. 

🤔 Prompts:

1. How can I show up for myself today? 
2. Who can I reach out to and tell them I'm thinking about them? 
3. What energy do I need to remove today(negative energy or self talk, toxic people)? 
4. How can I take one simple step towards the person I want to be? 
5. What do I need emotionally right now? 
6. What relationships in my life are bringing me joy? 

+Editor's note: This section first ran in August 2023. It was so sweet (and ever-pertinent) that we had to share it again.

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Welcome to my favorite part of the newsletter, What's Your Win, where we celebrate all of the good news happening right here within our Positive DONUT community.

Readers just like you sent in their little moments of gratitude to share, so we can all hype them up and celebrate together! Check out the submission we received this week: 

❤️ Misty M. from South Carolina is celebrating health wins...

• "I have a chronic illness that is severely misunderstood within the medical community. It’s not even taught at most medical schools! There are millions of us suffering across the world, and quality care is rare. Medical guidance that doesn’t cause harm is just as rare. I have never even met a doctor who knew about it, much less who knows more than I do. We desperately need more research and awareness! My win is that I was given the info of a specialist who runs a clinic out of state. I reached out, and she is going to consult with my doctor about ways to treat me! I never thought I’d have access to someone like this. This is very good news, and I’m feeling hopeful and excited to see how this goes! May is Myalgic Encephalomyelitis awareness month!!"

1. In which country would you find Mount Kilimanjaro?
2. What is the 4th letter of the Greek alphabet?
3. Who has won the most total Academy Awards?
4. How many faces does a Dodecahedron have?

(keep scrolling for the answers)

👆 Check out the referral prizes you can get, just for introducing people you know to little old us. 

What to do: Copy your unique link below, then send it to anyone who you think would like Positive DONUT. Once you hit each milestone, you'll get an email with a link to claim your prize.

Start referring.👇

1. Tanzania⛰️
2. Delta ✍️
3. Walt Disney 🏰
4. 12 😮

Hit that reply button and let me know, I read every response. Have a great week!🥰

–Kailyn

P.S. Enjoying this newsletter and want to support my work? It'd mean the world if you told a friend or two about Positive DONUT. You can even win sweet, sweet prizes for each person you refer using your unique link (found two sections above).