Barack Obama

When I think of a hero I think of someone really big and someone who has done something great. A hero is a word that can be looked up in the dictionary but have many meanings. My hero just isn't someone who is big and great but they are also someone who worked hard to get where they are at this day. They would have to go through ups and downs so that they know what it feels like if they didn't succeed, the effort is what counts. That's why my hero is BARACK OBAMA.

Barack Obama was raised by his mother and grandparents. They didn't have much money, but they taught him values from the Kansas heartland where they grew up. He took out loans to put himself through school. After college he worked for Christian churches in Chicago, helping communities devastated when steel plants closed. Then he turned down several job offers to return back to Chicago.

Barack Obama is 44th president of the United States and was born Barack Hussein Obama on August 4, 1961, in Honolulu, Hawaii. Obama's mother, Ann Dunham, grew up in Wichita, Kansas. Her father worked on oil rigs during the Depression. After the Japanese attack on Pearl Harbor, he signed up for service in World War II and marched across Europe following Patton's army. Dunham's mother went to work on a bomber assembly line. After the war, they studied on the G.I. Bill, bought a house through the Federal Housing Program, and moved to Hawaii.

Obama is a hero because he grew up in challenges that we have no clue about. It sounds pretty difficult growing up, not being fully white or black. But Obama has chosen to be strong, to be positive and to press forward which he does through integrity. He doesn't disrespect those who want to block him with their negativity and he doesn't get tangled up either. Obama's choice for a wife was very positive because he brought someone into his life who is intelligent and someone who is very humble and who came from humble beginnings. Obama lives by faith, and has expectations for himself and others. So that is what makes him so inspiring.

When asked "what is a hero?" Barack Obama replied that he used to believe a hero was someone with high expectations, who sets goals and is faithful. But now he believes a hero is also a regular human being who finds strength to persevere and endure in spite of overwhelming obstacles and I agree with him.