Dr. Jill Biden often credits her childhood spent in Willow Grove as providing her with her no-nonsense, relatable strength that is key to who she is and why she endures, writes Emily Goulet for Philadelphia Magazine.

The First Lady often referred to herself as a Philly girl often during her husband’s presidential campaign, most usually after dealing with hacklers or protesters at his rallies.

“You don’t screw around with a Philly girl,” she said after she wrestled with an anti-dairy protester who ran on the stage during a rally in Los Angeles last March.

Biden is also the first-ever First Lady to have a full-time job while in the White House. She is continuing the same job she did while being Second Lady, a professor of writing at Northern Virginia Community College.

And it is her determination and strength but also her heart and reliability that might be exactly what the country needs right now.

But while the teacher from Philadelphia may not be able to make this divided nation whole again, she can provide hope and optimism, and right now that is enough.

Read more about Jill Biden in Philadelphia Magazine.