A hero is not defined by their status in society or how well they are known. A hero is defined by the wonderful traits they depict in their lives. Judy Ann Aucoin Rice is an ordinary  mother of three children, with the eldest me. Even though she lives a very ordinary life, in my opinion, she is a modern day hero. Judy was born on September 1, 1971, into a family of loving parents and four, older siblings. Growing up, she had a good life and received a Catholic education. She graduated from Mount Carmel Academy as a Ragdoll in 1989 and went on to attend The University of New Orleans. She finally achieved her Bachelor of Science in Nursing from Louisiana State University. She started her first job at Ochsner Hospital in 1995 and remains an employee of Ochsner to this very day on the Mother Baby unit. While in nursing school, she met her husband, Eric Rice. Judy is a hero because of the many exemplary traits she displays, but the most important ones are generosity, loyalty, and bravery.
Generosity is a special quality Judy portrays through her everyday life and her gift of giving of herself. She is an extremely generous person to everyone she meets. She puts her heart and soul not only into her family, but also in the care she gives her patients. Recently, she had a patient that was actively bleeding for three hours. She could have easily demanded the patient be transferred to the intensive care unit, yet my mother never left her bedside. She gave the patient such excellent care, from giving her blood transfusions, emergency medicines, and careful monitoring of her vital signs that the patient was able to remain in her regular hospital room. She even missed her lunch break that day, which showed such generosity of her time and effort to this one patient. The patient was so appreciative that she sent Lifesaver candies to my mom thanking her for the life-saving care.  When it comes to her family, she never puts herself first she always leaves herself for last in everything. She will be the last to eat or get ready, and she takes time out of her day to help whenever it is needed. Every afternoon she is constantly driving each of us to our activities, instead of being able to relax after work. She will stay up past midnight helping us with homework, washing our uniforms, or even packing our lunches. She gives up so much of her time to do good things for her family and often feels completely exhausted. Generosity of a person’s time and energy is not a common trait to come by, but it is one in which my mother possesses, for that reason she is a modern day hero.
Loyalty is another difficult trait to find in most people, but then again Judy is not like most people. She will remain loyal to her friends and family through anything and everything. Once when my brother was treated unfairly because of his Attention Deficit Disorder, she quickly but calmly defended him. He was able to work better with his teachers and have more time to accomplish his work during the school day because of my mother’s loyalty. She has also stuck by me in times of struggle and stress in my life. In sixth grade, I began taking after school classes at the New Orleans Center for Creative Arts (NOCCA). I would leave from NOCCA and go straight to my dancing studio and finally home to start homework. The grueling schedule was too much for me to handle, and eventually I developed kidney stones from not drinking enough water. Therefore, when I had to make the very hard decision of leaving NOCCA, my mother, and her great gift of loyalty, supported me all the way. Judy does not shy from the astounding trait of loyalty to her friends and family, which is just another reason she is a hero. 
Lastly, the final heroic trait most dominant in her life is bravery. Bravery is a truly admirable characteristic that my mother portrays without fault. She stands up in the face of  uncertainty or the unknown. Just last year, she flew to Minnesota to cover a nursing strike that was only set to last one to two weeks. She ended up staying for the entire six week strike to help care for patients and also pay off bills from school tuition. This was the first time she had ever worked at another hospital. She did not know anyone, she did not know the danger she was going to be faced with inside or outside of the hospital. She definitely does not like being put in strange situations with not a friend in sight, but that is the sacrifice she did for her family. A true example of bravery and courage was portrayed in the actions my mother took to help our family pay off debt. Another face of bravery Judy was able to show was when she had a skin cancer scare about five years ago. A few suspicious moles located on her back were removed and sent to a lab to determine if they were cancerous. The dermatologist had to send my mother to a surgical doctor to remove more skin around where the moles had been because they were precancerous. Thankfully the results came back and her moles were not cancerous. Though it was a very scary experience, she kept a strong head and had a considerable amount of fortitude through it all. Bravery is definitely my mother’s best heroic trait because of the way she has handled the dangers and fears she has faced in life.
Judy is a modern day hero from the many attributes she portrays specifically generosity, loyalty, and bravery. My mother always puts others before herself and does whatever is best for their benefit. She is generous with her patients, caring for them to the best of her ability and giving them her strict attention to detail. Generosity can also be noted as Judy provides time and energy to her family with homework help or simply by driving them to after school activities.  Along with her generosity is her loyalty to her friends and family. She stands by their side through every decision and choice they make. She stood by me through my decision to quit classes at the New Orleans Center for Creative Arts and by my brother with his tough, school situations. Although, her bravery is the most astonishing part of her heroism. She showed amazing bravery going to work in Minnesota for a strike. Judy also displayed, this same courage when she had a terrible skin cancer scare. Her heroic nature is noticed by many more than just me. Judy positively impacts the people in her life everyday and will continue to be a hero through her special characteristics of generosity, loyalty, and bravery.