18 Female Characters Who Got Us Through 2018

"Kate Pearson (er, now Kate Damon) on This Is Us has really inspired me this year. While I cannot relate on a personal level to her struggles with infertility, I can absolutely admire her fearlessness and faith. The relationship she has with her brothers and the way she has opened up to her mother never fails to make me well up (and full on sob sometimes . . . OK, every time). She has a quiet fierceness within her, and I feel we have really begun to hear her roar this season. I can't wait to follow the rest of her story, and I hope to embody her conviction and love."

— Charisandra Perez, assistant social and partnerships coordinator