20-year-old criminology student Marisol Valles became the bravest college girl in North America when she stepped up to be police chief of Guadalupe, Mexico's second-most violent city after Juarez. Nobody else would accept the position.

Guadalupe's mayor was murdered in June; police beheadings are common. The current mayor said his hands were tied: Valles, a criminology major, "was the only person to accept the position." When a local newspaper asked the student if she was afraid, she had this to say (as translated by The Upshot):

Afraid? Everyone is afraid and it's very natural. What motivates me here is that the project [to make the community safer] is very good and can do a lot for my town. I know that we are going to change and remove this.

Godspeed. [Image via AP]