Tyra Banks

A Hero is a person that you can look up to as a role model. Someone who changes and can still have admirable quality.I chose Tyra Banks as my hero because she inspired others with model aspirations that weren’t a perfect size 7, but a normal size like hers. Tyra was born on December 4, 1973 in Inglewood California into a loving family, but it didn’t stay that way for long. Sometime in 1979, Tyra’s parents weren’t as loving toward each other as they used to be, and didn’t get along anymore so they divorced.

Despite their divorce, Tyra had a pretty normal life until she started growing up. As an adolescent Tyra was a very awkward looking girl described as tall, skinny and bumpy. She used to wear a big jacket and gloves in the summertime to cover up her arms and hands, she grew warts on them and because the kids teased her and she just wanted to cover them up to fit in. Later when she was seventeen, a friend told her about modeling and she was very thrilled about it. She begged her mother to let her pursue it, and though she didn’t really accept it…she agreed.

Tyra and her mother began going from agency to agency, but nobody would accept her because they claimed that her face wasn’t photogenic, but at 17, after trying four different agencies, she was accepted by Elite models, so she began to launch her model career, and launch away from her education she could’ve chosen at Loyola Marymount College. She independently moved to Paris to start her career with her agency and modeled for the best of the best in Paris. That later became a problem because they wanted her to be a smaller size so they wouldn’t let her eat

As a normal size 8 Tyra quickly became a household name. With appearances on Fresh Prince of Bel-Air on a daily basis, Higher Learning, and she was the first African-American girl to appear on the cover of the GQ Magazine. She was also the first to be a Victoria’s Secret model and on the cover of a Sports Illustrated Magazine. After such events she gained much respect, and also made an enemy. Another Black (Jamaican) model was envious of her, because the media claimed that there can’t be two black models, but that didn’t stop her. Much Later in 2003 she did something that many people doubted it would succeed; she created her own television show called, “America’s Next Top Model”. The ratings skyrocketed and she became one of the richest supermodels in the world, and valued 8.8 million dollars.

Her behavior is very admirable and no matter what she does, it will never disappoint me. As a size 8 model she inspires me to do whatever I put my mind to, whether it’s modeling, acting or singing. Tyra is more than a pretty face she is a down to earth, role model for every child. She is always determined to make a change in what people thought could never be accomplished, and she succeeds at it, like the stereotype of models having to be a size 0, drink Evian water and be against eating meat. Tyra is the complete opposite of the stereotype; she drinks soda, and loves fried chicken! She has also broken the barriers by being the First African-American to be a Victoria’s Secret model,as well as be on the cover of the Sports Illustrated Magazine. She is one of a kind.