Michael Oher

Michael Oher (http://www.examiner.com/baltimore-ravens-in-baltimore/baltimore-ravens-2009-nfl-draft-recap)

What makes a hero? To me a hero is a person who is inspirational by what characteristics they possess. My hero is Michael Oher because he wanted to be exceptional even though he had little in his childhood life to live off of.

Michael Oher is an African American who was born in Memphis, Tennessee. He has eyes that look like coffee, and short, curly ebony hair. He was born to Williams and Denise Oher who had thirteen children ("Michael Oher"). He was born on May 28, 1986 and is still living today at the age of 24. Right now Michael plays for the Baltimore Ravens as an offensive tackle.

Michael Oher and the Tuohy Family (moviemavengal.blogspot.com)

Michael grew up in Tennessee to an alcoholic mother and a father who was frequently in and out of prison. Due to his parents' obstacles in life, Michael was placed in a foster care home at the age of seven ("Michael Oher"). During his first years of school he was held back once in the first grade and then again in the second grade ("Michael Oher"). He ended up living with a foster family who was enrolling their son in the Briarcrest Christian School so they enrolled Michael too. He started out this school with only a 0.6 GPA but this would soon change.

The Blind Side (http://4vmy.com/movie-trailer/the-blind-side-story-of-all-american-football-star-michael-oher.html)

He then lived with Leigh Ann and Sean Tuohy, who had a son and daughter who also attended Briarcrest Christian School. Eventually, they adopted Michael into their family. Leigh and Sean then got Michael a tutor so that he could improve his academics. He worked exceptionally hard at his studies so he could get an education and eventually get a job. When he was a senior in high school he had a GPA of 2.52 and with the help of some internet classes he was able to pass high school ("Michael Oher"). During his college years he played football for the University of Mississippi and now he plays for the Baltimore Ravens in NFL.

I was inspired my Michael because he came so far from his childhood to where he is now today. He knew that he wanted the most out of his life and was going to make sure it was going to happen. Instead of just waiting for it to come to him he went to school and got an education. He was willing to benefit himself at school which paid off. On the other hand, a lot of people would have just lived without an education but he did not. This inspired me to have the get up and go attitude and not to wait on others because you cannot rely on others all the time.

Therefore, these reasons lead me to say that Michael Oher is my hero. He wanted to make his life prosperous and succeeded at doing that. Overall, he went from an inadequate life to an outstanding life playing football which inspired me to do the same to my life.