Ruby Nell Bridges

After a lot of thought, I chose Ruby Bridges as my hero. She is a hero for me because of all of the events she went through at such a young age, and later in life she helped to end racial segregation. Ruby Bridges is courageous and determined. She inspires me to reach for the stars and achieve my dreams. Ruby had a huge dream, and she did not give up.

Ruby Bridges grew up in New Orleans, which at the time was the first town to start integrating schools. When she was in kindergarten she took a difficult test to see which colored kindergarteners would integrate public elementary schools. Ruby was one of only six students to pass. Two of the chosen students stayed in their old schools, and the other children were assigned to a public school called McDonough No. 19. That meant Ruby would be integrating William Frantz Public School alone.

When Ruby started going to William Frantz Public School, there were mobs and mobs of white people threatening to kill her and her family. She was a very brave six-year-old girl. Even when every student but a handful out of the nearly five hundred children left, Ruby stayed. She was alone in a classroom, with no children to interact with, but she learned as best she could. Ruby went through a lot of pain and had to see a child psychiatrist, but she made it through.

Everything Ruby achieved was quite incredible. And, one of most memorable things Ruby did was on an ordinary day when her usual Federal marshals were escorting her through the mob of people. She disappeared right in the middle of the crowd. Immediately afterward, she walked inside the building like nothing had happened. When her teacher and good friend, Mrs. Barbara Henry, asked Ruby what she said to the people, Ruby replied that she was praying for them. She said she had done this everyday in the car or on the corner before her school, but this morning she had forgotten, so she prayed when she was in sight of them.

Another achievement that Ruby did was creating The Ruby Bridges Foundation. The Ruby Bridges Foundation gives inner-city children a chance to try activities that they never would be able to otherwise. She started it when her brother died and she helped out at his children's school. She saw how much the children at the school needed and began the foundation to fulfill those needs.

These accomplishments show me that one person really can change lives. In Ruby's case, many people helped to change the world, but she did her part to make the world a better place. Ruby Nell Bridges is a passionate and selfless woman, making her a role model for many others and me. The world will always need inspiring heroes like Ruby.