Helen Keller

Helen Keller, in her garden.

I’m sure most of you know Helen Keller as a blind-deaf child who learned to use sign language to communicate with her peers. But to me, Helen Keller is more than that—she’s a role model and a hero.

Helen was born in 1880, with full sight and hearing. But in 1882, she became ill and was left blind and deaf. Miss Anne Sullivan, a former pupil of the Perkins Institution, was recommended to Mr. and Mrs. Keller as an ideal teacher for their daughter. Anne would teach Helen how to understand sign language by signing letters and words into her hand. Anne would also teach Helen how to recognize objects, and read Braille and raised letters. She was also taught how to type on both ordinary typewriters and Braille typewriters. Just doing that much was a huge step for any deaf-blind person.

In 1900, Helen was the first deaf-blind person to ever enroll in and graduate from Radcliffe College. And three years later, in 1903, her first book, "The Story Of My Life," was published. One year after that, Helen became the first deaf-blind woman to earn a Bachelor of Arts degree.

In 1909, Helen became a member of the Massachusetts Socialist Party and wrote "The World I Live In." In 1913, she wrote and published "Out Of The Dark." She traveled to Japan, Australia, South America, Europe and Africa in 1936, fundraising for the American Foundation for the Overseas Blind. In 1955, Helen published her fourth book, titled "Teacher." Helen was awarded the Presidential Medal of Freedom by President Lyndon Johnson in 1964. She was accepted into the Women’s Hall Of Fame at the New York’s World Fair one year later, in 1965. Helen died June 1, 1968.

Helen Keller accomplished many great achievements in her life, all of which would have been difficult for even the most perfect person to achieve. Helen persevered, and knew that just because she was blind and deaf, it didn’t mean her life had to come to a stop. She once said, “The public must learn that the blind man is neither a genius nor a freak nor an idiot. He has a mind that can be educated, a hand which can be trained, ambitions which it is right for him to strive to realize, and it is the duty of the public to help him make the best of himself so that he can win light through work.” She knew that she could make anything happen, and she knew that she could make a difference. Because Helen believed in herself, so did everyone else. And that’s why she is my hero.