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Teachers are true hometown heroes

Recently I read an article on how we all “worship” the wrong people. I'm not speaking about religion here, but the people we look up to, the people we strive to be like, and the people that drive us to work harder. So I started thinking, who do I look up to the most? Who do I want to emulate in life? Well, as a kid it was definitely Annie Oakley because I grew up around horses and I wanted to be a sharp shooter just like her. Things have changed and I have been sucked into the world that is obsessed with celebrities and movie stars. I admit, some of them are absolutely amazing and they are doing their part to help the world, but many of them don’t use their status to do much good. Then I think about the people that they list in the BACK of People Magazine in the “Hometown Heroes” section and wonder which of those admirable people I would strive to be. Then you start thinking about old teachers, your parents, your co-workers, your pastor, your grandparents, etc. How do you choose just one person to be like? How do you have one role-model?

I wound up pondering this for a few days and came up with quite a few people that I admire, adore, and strive to be like. My kindergarten teacher was voted Teacher of the Year. She taught my 5th grade class and she kept in contact with me until Pancreatic Cancer took her a few years ago. I always told her that if the children of the future didn’t get the chance to be in her class, I would stop whichever career path I was on and become a teacher to try to fill her shoes. Needless to say, I haven’t kept my promise. There is Oprah who most women love due to the fact that she gives everyone a voice, she helps all people, and she is on top of the world. Then Angelina Jolie, as crazy as she is, she is a Goodwill Ambassador for the UN Refugee Agency and opening our eyes to all parts of the world. Team Hoyt is inspirational to all people, not just parents of handicapped children, but all people. This man and his son, who is quadriplegic, run races and triathlons together. His father pushing his son (literally) every step of the way, while I am sure his son pushes him emotionally.

I think of all the beautiful men and women and how they exude femininity or masculinity. I think about the fitness models, bikini models, bodybuilders, run-way models, and “plus size” models. I think about how their beauty is judged daily. I think about Bill Gates and Bill O’Reilly, Katie Couric, Matt Lauer, and all the journalists risking their lives reporting in places of the world I haven’t ventured. Then I start thinking about all the doctors trying to find a cure for AIDS and cancer, all the pediatric surgeons that have to try and save a dying child’s life and how even though their jobs must be exhausting, they never give up. The list can go on and on: Gandhi, Mother Theresa, Marilyn Monroe, Martin Luther King Jr., Tiger Woods, Darwin, Bill Cosby, Roosevelt, Kennedy, and Condoleezza Rice. Everyone believes in someone or something that touches their heart. Then it dawned on me that it is the average person, the people we see every day... they are my heros. We all struggle daily to try to give ourselves and our children a better life. We try to help our neighbors, our business partners and our friends. Real people can touch our lives forever. Each one of us is a counselor to our friends, a doctor to our kids, a journalist within our daily lives, and a very important person to the people that we spend our lives with. All the people I admire are average people who have made such a difference in someone’s life that they have rocketed to fame. Doctors and journalists were all average people who worked their hardest to influence something they believe in. Oprah came from a “normal” upbringing but she made it so that her voice was heard and she is making a difference. My kindergarten teacher was a mother, a daughter and a friend to so many, and she made an impact on my life that will never be forgotten.

Everyone has the ability to be great! You have to believe in something or you will fall for anything! Believe in yourself and find a mentor to get you to where you want to be and to who you want to be. Everyone is meant to be great, just some of us give up too easily or hit so many bumps in the road that we eventually give up, but we all have the opportunity to change someone’s day or life.

“What do we live for if not to make life less difficult for each other?” –George Eliot

In my next article I will tell you all about an “average” person that has taken the world by the hand and led them to a better life experience. He has changed so many lives, relieved so many stressful minds, and has created an organization that is helping millions. He is a true hometown hero, seeing as he was born and raised here in Melbourne, Florida.