Sara Ramirez

Eating well is a lifelong priority. My appreciation for cooking and healthy living came from watching my best friend die from liver cancer in 2008. I realized that I needed to make some big changes if I wanted to be around for a long time, so now I'm more cautious of how much I eat, what I'm eating, and how often.

My mom brought me up by herself, so I was a latchkey kid. I would walk myself back from school and spent a lot of time at home alone, watching TV. There weren't a lot of Latinas - or any women of color. And the ones I saw were usually presented as stereotypes or treated like jokes.

An independent state does not pay too dear a price for its independence in accepting the sufferings of war when it cannot avoid them; a state which has lost its independence may find at least some compensation in the fact that its protector procures for it peace with its neighbours.