BY THE STANDARDS of his Baltimore neighborhood, Edward McKay says he was already a success when he graduated from Southern High School in 1999—most of his friends dropped out by ninth grade—and took an environmental services job at The Johns Hopkins Hospital. But after a few years, McKay wanted more. In 2004, he tapped an employee benefit that let him work part time and earn a surgical tech certification while receiving full-time pay plus tuition.

  He now works alongside pediatric neurosurgeon Edward Ahn. McKay’s success is documented in a video seen more than 20,000 times on YouTube. It’s shown to all Johns Hopkins Medicine hires, making McKay, 36, a minor celebrity as he strides the hospital halls in his blue scrubs. He shares his story with local elementary and college students, as well as people who contact him from all over the world. McKay recently became a mentor with Baltimore Children of Incarcerated Parents. “My goal is to inspire as many people as I can,” he says.

                                                       —Karen Nitkin