My hero is a person whose greatness sneaked up on the world. Stephen Hawking was born exactly 300 years after the death of Galileo. Although there were thousands of other people born that day, he was special. As a child he was always a bit too clumsy and a bit too smart. But he had no idea how these two things would shape his life; his clumsiness was to become a crippling disease and his smartness a great intellect. He had no idea that he would have to overcome great fear and at the same time be celebrated as one of the world's smartest people.

After high school, Hawking started showing the effects of his disease. He steadily grew crippled from Lou Gherig's Disease, and after a while he was bedridden and incapable of walking. Several times he caught serious cases of pnuemonia. His second serious case required a tracheostomy which, along with saving his life, took his voice. He was in the middle of writing a book with no way to write or communicate except by blinking. Fortunately, he loved his work so much that he continued on with it despite the ever-clinging fear of dying.

Several years went by while Hawking had the daunting task of enduring his illness while keeping up with the world of quantum physics. Eventually, he received a present from a college friend. The present was a revolutionary new computer that attached to his wheelchair and would talk for him. He now had a way to write his papers and lecture to students. It seemed that his life was now getting better. He had overcome all fears of dying and not being capable of continuing his research.

After years of struggling with fear, he overcame it. Some may say he is a unique person with an extraordinary mind. In my opinion, he is a hero. He may not have saved someone's life, but he did inspire mine. And if you don't mind, he will always be my hero.