Christopher Gardner

My hero is Chris Gardner. He was born on February 9th, 1954 in Milwaukee, Wisconsin. Gardner lived with his mother, Bettye Jean Triplett. He never knew his father, he didn’t have positive role models while growing up.

His stepfather was physically abusive. He and his sisters were given to foster care at the age of 8. Besides all the tragedy, his mother was very inspirational and gave strength to Chris. In the late 60s, Gardner finished High School. On 1977, he married Sherry Dyson, a teacher. While living with Sherry, he began an affair with Jackie Medina which he had a baby with.

He had a son named Christopher. He was born on January, 1981. Years later, his girlfriend accused him because of physical abuse, which he denies today. Because of that, he was taken to jail. About 10 months later, Jackie disappeared and left his son with Gardner. He accepted the custody of his child. But in the apartment where he lived, they didn’t accept children. Although he was employed, he and his son struggled a lot because they became homeless while saving money for a house. None of his co-workers knew that he and his son were homeless for about a year. They slept wherever they felt they were safe like parks, flophouses or even bathrooms. He is my hero because he was really strong during those hard times he went through.

One day when he was on a taxi cab, he met a manager and impressed him by solving a Rubik's Cube, which earned him an interview for a new job. The problem was that they wouldn’t pay him. He had to compete with 18 people to get the number 1 position. He worked harder than anyone to earn that position. One day during work, he was called for a meeting. He couldn’t believe it when they offered him the position. With tears in his eyes, he accepted the job that would change his life forever. He is my hero because he worked very hard day and night to earn that position and to help his child.

Today, he is a millionaire, entrepreneur, motivational speaker and philanthropist. He made his own company named Gardner Rich & Co and has written many inspirational books. He helped South Africa by creating hundreds of jobs and has helped many charities. He donated US$50 million to help opportunities for employment in the city where he was homeless. In 2002, he received the Father of the Year Award, 25th Annual Humanitarian Award, and the 2006 Friends of Africa Award. He is my hero because he taught me that if you work hard, and have a positive attitude, you can do anything you want in life. He also has a movie of his life named “The Pursuit of Happyness”, which talks about his life during those hard times he went through