Bethany Hamilton by David S.

 

Surfing is an important sport to many people in Hawaii. But very rarely, it can cause serious injury and/or death! One of the people that survived a very tragic event back in 2003 and her name is Bethany Hamilton. She was born back in February 8^th, 1990 and got her arm ripped off by a shark when she was 13. She overcame her trauma and went back to professional surfing after a couple of months.

To start off, she started competitive surfing at the age of 8. Also, at the age of 9, she ended up getting her first sponsorship. She was capable of beating older and more experienced surfers. She had won two competitions, one in her age group, and another which was the open division of Hawaii’s Local Motion/Ezekiel Surf Into Summer Event. She then placed second place in the Open Women’s Division of the N.S.S.A. in San Clemente, California. Bethany had been to multiple competitions and won most of them.

            The moment that changed her life occurred back on Halloween morning on 2003. She went surfing with her best friend, Alana Blanchard, and Alana’s father and brother. When they were just laying on their boards, a 14 foot tiger shark bit Bethany’s arm almost up to her shoulder. "I was holding onto my board, with my thumb, because I probably didn't want to get pulled under. It was like pulling me back and forth, not like pulling me underwater. Just like, you know how you eat a piece of steak? It was kind of like that” (biography.com). Alana’s father reacted quickly and took off his shirt to put pressure on the gigantic wound to lower the blood loss rate. He also led everyone to shore. He put Bethany in the back of his pickup truck with Alana’s brother and took her to Wilcox Memorial Hospital, where her dad was about to have knee surgery. She had multiple surgeries and lost approximately 60% of her blood.

        After multiple months, she was stabilized and released from the hospital. Her story ended up spreading across the United States and she vowed to return to surfing as soon as possible. When she did return to surfing, she had to practice a lot to get a hang of surfing with one arm. After she learned how to surf again, her future was perfect. She ended up winning the N.S.S.A. National Championships on 2005. She also competed in the T&C Surf Women’s Pipeline event. She had also made multiple books and a movie (Soul Surfer). Bethany’s life has been good after her shark attack back on 2003. In 2012, she met a person called Adam Dirks and they got married on 2013. And also on the years 2015, 2018, and 2021, Bethany gave birth to her children. Her children are Tobias (June 1^st, 2015), Wesly (March 2018), and Micah (February 2021) (celebsgraphy.com).

            In conclusion, Bethany Hamilton is very talented, especially with one arm! She was able to beat people that were more experienced surfers and had her first sponsorship before the age of 10. But her career had abruptly stopped after her shark attack on 2003 (when she was 13). She has been able to beat adversity and is now living a completely normal life with a husband and 3 kids. She is not a normal person; she is a survivor of adversity.

Helen Keller by Jennifer G.

Everyone has faced adversity at one point in their life. Many people overcome those big challenges while many didn’t. A lot of us use those hard challenges to move forward and become stronger. One person was Hellen Keller since she over came discrimination due to her loss of sight and hearing at a young age. She is being recognized for being the strong woman she was.

To begin with, when Hellen Keller lost both her sight and hearing when she was just 19 months old. According to https://www.biography.com/activist/helen-keller in 1882, she contracted an illness-called “brain fever” detected by the family doctor. Keller’s mother noticed that she showed no reaction to the dinner bell when it was rung or a hand being waved in front of her. As Keller grew, she developed a limited method of communication. By the time Keller was 7 she knew over 60 different signs she and her companion invented. Keller was very wild and unruly. Many relatives thought she should’ve been institutionalized. But she fought through.

Secondly, Keller wanted to be heard so she began speech classes at Horace Mann School for the deaf. In https://metropolitangirls.com/helen-keller-biography/ she would practice talking for 25 years so that others understood her. She worked hard on her communication skills. Around that time, she was determined to attend college. She attended the Cambridge school for young ladies. As her story became known, Keller met famous and influential people, one being writer Mark Twain. He introduced her to his friend, and they were so impressed by her personality and strength that they let her in Radcliffe college. She successfully graduated, something that not everyone expected back when she was young, wild, and uneducable. 

In addition, Hellen Keller became a well-known author. Between 1909 and 1921, she wrote several articles about socialism. Her series of essays on socialism, entitled “Out of the Dark” described her views on socialism and world affairs. Keller became a celebrity and lecturer by sharing her experiences. She helped ring the America Civil Liberties Union. Keller participated in many campaigns to raise awareness, money and support for the blind and deaf. Hellen Keller brought inspiration to others. She showed people the path, that if she could succeed, so can they.

To end these thoughts, Hellen Keller overcame many adversities, like losing both her sight and hearing. She didn’t let that stop her from becoming the woman she is. She was strong and smart. Keller was a very brave woman who didn’t give up easily. Hellen Keller peacefully died at the age of 87 on June 1, 1968.

Jim Carrey by Jefferson L.

 

Jim Carrey has faced many challenges in his life, like most people. He struggled with dyslexia, being poor, depression, an identity crisis, and struggled with finding acting gigs. From his simple beginnings in Toronto, to his fame in Hollywood, this is the story of Jim Carrey and him overcoming adversity.

To begin with, Carrey was born on January 17, 1962, in Toronto, Canada. When he was 8 years old, he discovered a talent for making impressions. Carrey struggled in school because he had dyslexia which really hindered his progress in school. Carrey attended Aldershot High School, but sadly shortly after, his family had gone poor and was living in his car. But this didn’t stop him, since his father found work in a nearby tire factory and Carrey started working there too. Whilst working as a janitor and a guard, he was doing stand up comedy on the side. More recently, Carrey has struggled with his identity and has claimed that he has no identity and became a character in a movie he was playing in for 4 months, according to https://www.telegraph.co.uk/films/2017/10/06/jim-carrey-declares-has-no-identity-latest-surreal-interview/ . Carrey also struggles with depression, he confirmed this in an interview that can be read here https://genesight.com/blog/patient/art-and-depression-jim-carreys-i-needed-color/.

To continue, in 1992 Carrey wrote himself a check for 10 million dollars to try and motivate himself. In 1995 he got a 10 million dollar check for his role in “Dumb and Dumber,” but his main claim to fame was a lead role in “Ace Ventura: Pet Detective,” which according to Wikipedia went on to make 72 million in the U.S and Canada. He reappeared in its sequel, which grossed 351 million worldwide. After that, he got a Golden Globe award for best actor. Soon he’d star in some mediocre films, but that soon changed in the 2000’s.

To keep going, in 2000, Carrey played the Grinch in “How the Grinch Stole Christmas,” in which he received praise for his portrayal of the Grinch. The movie went on to become the second highest grossing Christmas movie ever according to Wikipedia. In 2003, he starred in Bruce Almighty, an international comedy hit. In 2020, he played Dr Robotnik in the Sonic the Hedgehog movie and was praised for his portrayal of the character. He is set to be recast for the movie’s sequel which came as a shock due to his dislike for movie sequels.

To wrap things up, Jim Carrey is a good sample of overcoming adversity and challenges that come up in life and coming up from the bottom. From being homeless and working in a factory to becoming one of the most famous actors right now, even though he’s been struggling with depression and still is, Carrey is a good example of coming up from the bottom and getting to the top.

Hellen Keller by Tyrone W.

 

To begin with Helen Keller had a difficult early life. Helen Keller was an American author who lost her sight and hearing due to an illness at the age of nineteen months. She didn’t know how to communicate. She had a lot of trouble trying to communicate to her parents. So, her parents got her a teacher who had some disabilities herself so Helen could learn from her. Throughout all the time Helen Keller’s family was not able to understand or think of what she was saying. So, Helen had a tough life in her youth but as Helen got older her matureness did as well, so she was able to understand more than she did in her youth. Helen Keller made a lot of progress throughout her life. But she still overcame all the challenges throughout her days.

According to The Story of Helen Keller and Anne Sullivan Macy, Helen was 12 when she met her first teacher and long-life companion Anne Sullivan, who taught her language, including reading and writing. Also, Helen’s teacher had some disabilities herself, so they had a good bond and Anne Sullivan was able to teach Keller how to communicate with others because of the disabilities she had in her youth as well. This shows that Helen Keller didn’t really have a great past. Helen couldn’t even speak, write, spell, or read, but her teacher Anne Sullivan taught her all of those things, not only was she her teacher she was also her good friend, who stood by Helen unto death. Helen had made progress since the first time she had seen Anne Sullivan, because when Helen was younger, she wasn’t mature.

Helen was blind and deaf so she really couldn’t contact other people according to American Foundation for the Blind. Also, her father didn’t really want Helen because of the fact that she was deaf and blind. Helen made it to college, and she did this without being able to see or hear, which is very impressive. She was also able to become an author of many books all while in the process of being blind and deaf. These accomplishments were very honorable because of the fact that it was done by a lady with those type of disabilities. So, the fact that she accomplished these goals are very awe-inspiring. Helen had many accomplishments and probably many goals.

Then, according to The Story of Helen Keller. Helen had a speech problem because she never heard any language. She was able to talk but her talking wasn’t very great. Although, throughout the years of being together, her family and teacher Anne Sullivan grew to understand what Helen was saying and was able to communicate back with her. They learnt how to translate the words. Though Helen’s family has been with her for years, they still didn’t know what was going on inside her head, but they were able to understand the words that were coming out of her mouth. Helen’s family must have been very understanding and very patient because they had to take time to listen, learn, and understand what she was saying. But throughout all that her family still loved and cared for her.

All in all, Helen was able to communicate to others and she learnt a lot from her youth onward. She became more mature and smarter, as well she learnt how to read books through codes so she could feel the letter on the palm of her hands. Helen Keller was a great author, and a great reader. Helen was deaf and blind, but she still was able to overcome all of the problems in her life.

Walt Disney by Henry M.

 

Have you ever seen a Disney movie or been to one of their theme parks? You probably think that the person who started it had a successful life but in reality, he faced a lot of challenges. Walt Disney faced many adversities in his life and some were about getting a job. At a young age he didn’t have much time for school and faced many difficulties. I will write about Walt Disney overcoming adversity.

Walt Disney was born in 1901 and raised in Missouri. A text called “Walt Disney-Overcoming Adversity” said that when he was young, he would sell his sketches to neighbors and at high school he would draw comics for the school paper. At the age of 16 he dropped out of school to join the army but was rejected for being underage. In 1923, he made “Alice’s Wonderland” which was successful. After that he made “The Alice Comedies.” In 1928 he learned he didn’t own the rights to his most successful character “Oswald the Lucky Rabbit.” This had to be devastating for him. He quit making “The Alice Comedies” and got on a train back to Hollywood.

Walt Disney also had jobs when he was young. In “Walt Disney Failures,” biography.com, it says that when Disney was 16 he lied about his age to become an ambulance driver during World War 1. When the war ended, he and his elder brother named Roy launched their own cartoon business, Laugh-O-Gram Studios, in 1920, but the company went bankrupt a couple of years later. This means a loss of money and a lack of success. Walt Disney made Mickey Mouse in 1928 and after that he made many animated movies. Years later, he made a theme park but at the start it wasn’t working that well. Rides would malfunction and Disney kept fixing them. After much hard work and bumps down the road, the theme park was a huge success.

Finally, I will talk about his family and how he faced adversity. In “The Circular-The Success Story of Walt Disney” it states that Walt Disney had three brothers and a younger sister, Disney and his brothers worked as paper boys and didn’t have much time for school. In one of his jobs, they told him that he had no good ideas and lacked imagination, but this didn’t discourage Disney from becoming a movie maker. Six years later he decided to create a animated movie, he ran out of funding and “borrowed 1.5million for unprecedented budget.” Many people said that nobody is going to sit through an animated movie, but he ignored it and focused on his work. Disney spent three years in the creation of the movie. “It was a huge success, it became the most successful motion picture film of the year”. The movie was called “Snow White and The Seven Dwarfs.”

To end this long summary of his life, Walt Disney faced an enormous amount of adversity and despite that he never gave up. Disney started off with a rough start, he couldn’t attend school, and failed many times making cartoons. Disney kept working and in the end he made many memorable movies and many theme parks.

Eminem by Justin Ch.

The people you look up to have faced many challenges in their lives. Facing adversity is a part of everyday life. Some people may give up at the sight of adversity but there are some who overcome adversity and become better because of it. One person who did this is Eminem, who faced challenges in his early life, while raising his kid, and in his rap career.

To start off, Eminem had a harsh early life. According to Britannica.com, ”During his childhood, Eminem and his mother Debbie shuttled between Detroit and Missouri, rarely staying in one house for more than a year or two and living primarily with family members.” Even in his teenage years he had it rough. According to Wikipedia.org, “Eminem and his mother lived for much of his youth in a working-class, primarily black, Detroit neighborhood. He and Debbie had one of the three white households on their block and Eminem was beaten several times by black youths.” This shows that even though he was beaten several times and how he rarely stayed in one house for long, he could still overcome these challenges and focus on what the steps to becoming a great rapper.

To continue, Eminem had a hard time rising his daughter and dealing with drug abuse. As stated in Wikipedia.org, “His former boss described him as becoming a model employee, as he worked 60 hours a week for six months after Hailie's birth. He was fired shortly before Christmas and later said, ‘It was, like, five days before Christmas, which is Hailie's birthday. I had, like, forty dollars to get her something.’” After the release of Infinite, his personal problems, financial struggles, and substance abuse led him to attempting suicide. This shows that even though he struggled with raising his daughter and drug abuse, he powered through. He stopped doing drugs and raised his daughter the best he could.

Additionally, Eminem also had trouble in his rap career. As stated by Wikipedia.org, ”In 1999, Eminem's mother sued him for $10 million, claiming he was slandering her on The Slim Shady LP.” Litigation ended in 2001, which resulted in an award of $1,600 for her damages. Then on June 3, 2000, Eminem was arrested during a fight with Douglas Dail at a car-audio store in Royal Ork   Michigan, when he pulled out an unloaded gun and pointed it not at people, but towards the ground. The next day, in Warren, Michigan, he was arrested again for fighting John Guerra in the parking lot of a cafe when he saw him kissing his wife. Eminem acted out the Guerra assault in "The Kiss (Skit)" on The Eminem Show. He pleaded guilty to possession of a concealed weapon and assault, receiving two years' probation, so he had issues with the law. However, Guerra's assault charge was dropped as part of a plea agreement between attorneys and the court. This shows that even though he faced challenges with crime he could still get through it and succeed in his rap career.

In conclusion, Eminem, overcame challenges in his early life, while raising his kid, and in his rap career. He did drug but got over them. He raised his daughter the best he could. He even had lawsuits thrown against him but he overcame it all. He’s a successful and well-known rap artist.

Stephen Hawking by Kenneth S.

Everyone has someone they admire, but did you know most of them had a difficult challenge to overcome to reach fame? Facing challenges is normal, but Stephen Hawking had one of the worst challenges because his ALS disease (amyotrophic lateral sclerosis). He was awarded 15 big awards, he discovered the black holes, and he was the smartest man alive at his time.

To start this topic off, in Stephen Hawking’s young age he studied theoretical physics at the University of Cambridge. Then one day he started having trouble walking, so his doctor said he had a very bad disease and would only live for 2 years according to acessibe.com, “Ten Stories Of People Who Overcame There Disabilities.” This disease was ALS, which had him in a wheelchair and on a speaking device. Yet, he lived for 50 more years and in his life after this he earned more than 15 major awards. Stephen Hawking had a challenging life, but pushed through.

The second reason making him a successful person who faced adversity is that even with his disease he was able to do one of the biggest discoveries. This discovery is black holes (biography.com), an event in astronomy. “In 1974, Hawking’s research turned him into a celebrity within the scientific world when he showed black holes.” If you love doing something, don’t let a challenge stop you. Stephen Hawking just proved this. Even in a wheelchair, not being able to move a muscle, he found one huge discovery because his disability didn’t stop him.

The final reason is that he was as smart or smarter than Albert Einstein. What would you expect from a guy with such a huge amount of adversity? Well, you wouldn’t expect him to be the smartest man in history would you? In enhancingbrain.com, Stephen Hawking never revealed his IQ, but it was believed to have been 160. “Only 0.0003% of people can score that high.” Even after everything he when through, he beat 99.997% of people.

Overall, Stephen Hawking had a bad life but that didn’t let them stop him. He won 15 awards in the scientific field. He may be the smartest person in the world, and he made the discovery of black holes even with ALS. And it all happened after this disease entered his life.