Jim Valvano

Jim Valvano faced his challenges head on and did not let it affect how he lived his life. He persevered when faced with the life and death struggle of having bone cancer and that makes him a hero. During Valvano's historic speech at the ESPY awards he talked about his battle with cancer and how he approaches his days no differently with or without cancer. "Now I'm fighting cancer, everybody knows that. People ask me all the time about how you go through your life and how's your day, and nothing is changed for me" (Valvano, Jim). Valvano was determined to live his life to the fullest and not let the physical disabilities that came with his cancer stop him from fulfilling his dream. He would not let cancer affect they way he lived his life.  Later on in the speech Valvano talks about how he will not allow cancer to touch who he really is. "Cancer can take away all my physical abilities. It cannot touch my mind, it cannot touch my heart and it cannot touch my soul. And those three things are going to carry on forever" (Valvano, Jim). Jim Valvano, although his cancer took away his physical abilities, was determined to not let cancer get the best of him. He persevered in not letting cancer take away who he truly was in a spiritual sense. Jim Valvano didn't let cancer take away his thoughts or his personality. At the end of his speech Jim Valvano said seven words that will forever be remembered. "Don't give up. Don't ever give up" (Valvano, Jim). These seven words exemplified how Valvano lived everyday of his life. Even with a disease like terminal bone cancer, he wouldn't let it stop him. Jim Valvano's incredible perseverance allowed him to fight his battle with cancer and not let it affect how he lived and who he really was.

Jim Valvano inspires me through his charisma and perseverance, to always look at life with a positive attitude and to persevere when faced with challenges and that makes Jim Valvano my hero. Jim Valvano was a charismatic man. He drew people in with his wit and he encouraged them to live life to its fullest. He attacked life always looking to improve and move forward towards his goals and dreams. He fought hard and persevered through the toughest of challenges like cancer. He would not let cancer stop him from living his life the way he wanted to. Jim Valvano is an inspiration to me and others like Stuart Scott. By just listening to Valvano's words, Stuart Scott went very far as an ESPN commentator and as a person (Scott, Stuart). Jim Valvano inspires me and others to live life in a more positive manner and to approach challenges with a never say die attitude. At the 1993 ESPY awards Jim told the audience, "To me, there are three things we all should do every day. We should do this every day of our lives. Number one is laugh. You should laugh every day. Number two is think. You should spend some time in thought. Number three is you should have your emotions moved to tears, could be happiness or joy. But think about it. If you laugh, you think and you cry, that's a full day. That's a heck of a day. You do that seven days a week, you're going to have something special" (Valvano, Jim). Jim Valvano inspires me to live each and every day full of laughter, thought, and emotions. He teaches me to persevere when faced with challenges like school or sports. Valvano encourages me to live my life with enthusiasm. In the end Jim Valvano was a hero because he persevered in life and did not let anything stop him from living his life to its fullest. He inspires others to live life to its fullest and to stay strong in times of personal hardship. As Jim Valvano said 23 years ago, "Don't give up... Don't ever give up" (Valvano, Jim).