Jim Valvano

"The charismatic, high-spirited Valvano, known in sports circles as a master basketball strategist and an incomparable storyteller, lived a final decade of extreme highs and lows."(The Scribner Encyclopedia of American Lives) Jim Valvano was full of emotion during all parts of his life, whether it was during his college coaching career or fight against cancer. His family consisted of his wife Pamela Levine and three daughters: Nicole, Jamie, and Lee Ann; he had strong family relations and cared for them dearly. Born in New York, but coached North Carolina State University. He was winner of the 1983 NCAA tournament with North Carolina State University. Jim Valvano also founded the V Foundation for Cancer Research after he was diagnosed with cancer himself. He passed away at 47 years of age in 1993. Jim Valvano deserves to be recognized as a hero because of his influential actions, motivational mindset, and courageous endeavors against the impossible.

Jim Valvano was a influential person due to his infectious optimism and determined intent of achieving his goals. Coaching college basketball was more than winning or losing games, he wanted to become a influential person in people's lives. "He worked to motivate, stimulate, entertain and inspire any person that entered his life. The world was his team, and his game plan would allow us all to be winners. He publicly shared the joys of his victories and the agony of his defeats. He certainly loved the limelight, but he also hoped others would learn from the way in which he lived life. He wanted to matter to someone and to everyone."(Valvano Para. 8) He strived to become a role model for everyone by expressing his high spirited  and influential personality. He convinced people to be more human by expressing his emotions openly with the world.  The people around him felt loved and cared for, even if they weren't friends or family. His continuous outburst of feelings opened up a level of understanding on how people felt, which influenced people to express how they feel more often. Even after his college coaching career, he still continued to influence people by openly speaking about his struggle against cancer. "The charismatic, high-spirited Valvano, known in sports circles as a master basketball strategist and an incomparable storyteller, lived a final decade of extreme highs and lows. He is remembered by the wider public for his role in the high-profile events of those years and for his public fight against cancer."(The Scribner Encyclopedia of American Lives.) Jim Valvano influenced all people on how to make everlasting marks on history. He created many memories though his 1983 Cinderella N.C. State team and brought the needed attention towards people suffering from cancer. He expressed how important it is to help the cause against cancer. Jim influenced many people who take their time on Earth for granted. He gave clarity towards how special time can be, so he urged people to spend it well because you never know what could happen. Jim Valvano influenced many people by publicly describing his experiences throughout his life.

Jim Valvano was a motivational figure during multiple times in his life, most famously when he was diagnosed with cancer. Jim Valvano motivated many people while publicly speaking about his disease by deciding to help others fight against it. "During one of Jim's final interviews he stated, "'I want to help every cancer patient I can now. I don't know if I can handle that, but it's the only conceivable good that can come out of this.'"(Valvano, Jim) "Jim proved that he could more than handle his final role as cancer advocate." (Valvano Para. 10) He gave people the motivation to be able to stay positive no matter how bad something can get. Although he couldn't help every cancer patient himself, he motivated everyone to push harder towards the goal of a cure. All of his open remarks towards helping people with cancer led to him getting a reward and giving his famous ESPY speech. During the end of the speech he wanted to make sure that everyone understood the only things that cancer does to him. "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) Nothing can completely stop all the things he done in his life. Although cancer is deteriorating his body, his remarks on how it can't destroy all the good he has done motivated all the people who heard his speech. He gave people the right mindset, how even cancer can't erase you as a person, or what you accomplished in your life. Jim Valvano motivated numerous people during his lifetime, especially when he fought against cancer with the public being at his side.

Jim Valvano showed the substantial amount of courage he had by always moving forward, no matter what hardships were in his way. During the final moments of the 1983 NCAA Tournament championship game, Valvano coached his team from being defeated, as predicted to pulling off one of the greatest wins in college basketball history. "To the thousands who attended the game in Alburquerque, N.M., and to the millions who watched on television, Valvano defined the moment of victory, leaping off the bench with a whoop and running wildly down the court looking for someone to hug."(Thomas Jr., Robert, Para. 3) Jim showed great amounts of courage throughout his college coaching career. Almost every game they played, they were considered the underdog, but they pushed through the adversity and did the impossible. He showed his team the courage to persevere through from any challenge in their way. The main point of his famous ESPY's speech was to express the importance of raising the awareness of cancer. In his speech he spoke about the courage every patient has by fighting so strongly against cancer, and how supporting in anyway will benefit many people. "But try if you can to support, whether it's AIDS or the cancer foundation, so that someone else might survive, might prosper and might actually be cured of this dreaded disease. I can't thank ESPN enough for allowing this to happen. I'm going to work as hard as I can for cancer research and hopefully, maybe, we'll have some cures and some breakthroughs."(Valvano, Jim) Jim Valvano didn't let anything discourage him, especially cancer. Rather being deterred by his situation, he encouraged many people to help for the cause of cancer, thus making himself a courageous character. Instead of reacting negatively towards his situation, he instead tries to help bring attention to cancer. He courageously made sure that people would understand the urgency needed to save millions of lives.

Overall, Jim Valvano was a man with multiple heroic traits, who has inspired many people to this day. Throughout his life he influenced countless of people, motivated everyone he knew to achieve their dreams, and exhibited a significant amount of courage towards any negative events in his life. His college career and fight against cancer were major things in his life that made in a hero. "When people say to me how do you get through life or each day, it's the same thing. 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 was always full of life, no matter what was going on. Here he is shown talking about how people should go about life and the benefits of doing so. These guidelines inspired people to experience life with these great things in them everyday. He inspired people to not waste your days and live life to the fullest. He showed the full potential of what you can do everyday by expressing how joyful their life can be. The life of Jim Valvano was indeed one of a hero. His life was a shining example of how to live a full life, and that anyone in the world can become a hero.

Works Cited

Thomas Jr., Robert, McG. "Jim Valvano, Colorful College Basketball Coach, Is Dead at 47." The New York Times. The New York Times, 28 Apr. 1993. Web. 29 Jan. 2016.

<http://www.nytimes.com/1993/04/29/obituaries/jim-valvano-colorful-college-basketbal

-coach-is-dead-at-47.html>.

"Valvano, James Thomas ("Jim")." The Scribner Encyclopedia of American Lives. Ed. Kenneth

T. Jackson, Karen Markoe, and Arnold Markoe. Vol. 3: 1991-1993. New York: Charles Scribner's Sons, 2001. 535-536. Biography in Context. Web. 27 Jan. 2016.

Valvano, Jamie. "Jim Valvano 1946-1993." The V Foundation for Cancer Research. The V

Foundation, 2016. Web. 27 Jan. 2016. <http://www.jimmyv.org/about-us/remembering-jim/jim-valvano-1946-1993/>.

Valvano, Jim. "ESPY Awards Speech." The V Foundation for Cancer Research. The V Foundation, 2016. Web. 03 Feb. 2016. <http://www.jimmyv.org/about-us/remembering-jim/jimmy-v-espy-awards-speech/>.