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Pro Athletes

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Chasing Dreams
“I grew up with nothing and never had dreams of becoming a pro athlete; I guess some people just get lucky” (Lewis 168). Being professional in a sport is not an easy task to fulfill, and people put everything in their lives on the line to make it. In the novel, The Blind Side, by Michael Lewis, the theme the author makes clear is that people do not always believe in giving or receiving hope. The main character, Michael Oher, is an excellent example of this theme. Uncontrollable challenges and disregarding or abusing given opportunities is what ails America because it damages potential success. A person’s individual background can have a huge effect on determining if they have the chance to be successful. Michael Oher had a slim chance to become successful in a poor family When Michael meets the Touhys he states, “I don’t know where my mom is but I want to protect her and I hope she’s ok” (Lewis 58). This evidence also relates to a story about Maurice Clarett who states, “I grew up in a bad neighborhood and I had nothing to protect except my mom and my brother, that’s all I ever worried about” (Burke 2). Both Michael and Maurice were born into very poor living conditions but they never lost hope in what they wanted to accomplish. This is important because it shows that a persons background in life can sometimes determine how many goals a person is limited to, and with hope in being successful these goals are obtainable. Michael was given a small chance to become successful in life because he grew up in a poor neighborhood and could not get a good education. When Michael is talking to Leanne he says, “I never knew what it felt like to have a family and be surrounded by people who love me” (Lewis 100). This evidence shows that without the support he received from the Touhys, Michael may have never made it off the streets to be where he is now. The gift of hope that the Touhys gave to Michael gave him a chance in life to go out and obtain goals that he never thought were possible. Americans want to live a successful life. That is achieved by never losing hope in oneself and others, and having a will to be successful. The Touhys took in Michael and gave him a chance because their family believed in giving hope to others. When Sean and Leanne are talking, she says, “Sean I want to do the right thing here and Michael needs a family” (Lewis 74). Chris Herren was a Basketball star in Massachusetts that said “ I wanted to be that the basketball star that everyone looked up to and I gave into drugs and lost everything I had” (Rinaldi 3). Every American has a will to become a successful person in life. When opportunities are given, people need to take advantage of them and not waste special opportunities. Chris and Michael both gave everything they had to become professional athletes once they were given the opportunity. Michael shows what it’s like to not waste a given opportunity and Chris displays how a special opportunity can be wasted. A strong will to be successful does not depend on someone’s wealth because if people have hope in themselves, they will be successful. Reggie Bush was not a wealthy college athlete and he states “I had everything in the world the Heisman and the NFL but with a slip up like that I almost lost both of them” (CNN Wire Staff 3). Maurice Clarett played college football for the Ohio state buckeyes and he relates by saying “I didn’t grow up in the best living conditions, but wealth wasn’t what I needed to strive better than my teammates, all I needed was myself” (Burke 4). Having a lot of money does not make someone automatically successful. The way somebody becomes successful depends on how much self- reliance they have towards themselves. This is important because athletes that put hope in themselves reach higher goals and never give up on themselves to become a successful person. It shows that whatever conditions people grow up in do not matter because the will to obtain goals comes from within the person’s morals and drive. Having intelligence in life can help a person to become successful, but taking intelligence for granted is why America struggles to obtain goals. Michael Oher grew up with little to no education because his family did not give him enough attention. When all the teachers are at a meeting, one of Michaels teachers says, “They passed him with D’s to move on to the next grade, probably never learned a thing” (Lewis 150). Chris Herren’s story relates to this topic when he says “I had a 3.6 GPA my freshman year in college and I basically had earned a ticket to the NBA but, I got banned from the college for drug usage” (Rinaldi 2). This evidence shows that in Michael’s case he just was not given an education to make him a student that could compete to be successful. But in opposition to Michael, Chris had enough skill and intelligence to make it to the NBA on his own, but he wasted his given opportunity on doing drugs. Just because athletes are intelligent does not mean they will not abuse it. What ails America are the people that have the potential to be successful, and destroy these opportunities with things that will ruin it. Michael Oher proved that anything can be accomplished in life because he set goals and never gave up on what he believed in. When Reggie Bush won the Heisman trophy he said, “As a human, you are provided with the gift of life everyday and to be able to live in a world where if you dream of be successful, you can” (CNN Wire Staff 2). This evidence shows that anything anybody sets their mind to can be achieved depending on how badly they want it. Michael was given an opportunity to be a successful person and he did not pass it up because he worked hard to reach his goals. This shows that all these athletes that want to go out and be the next big all-star, have a very slim chance in going pro. It is not impossible to go out and do whatever is achievable in this world. This does not just go for sports, this goes for anything in life. You are given opportunities to become a successful human every day, and it is how a person takes advantage of those opportunities that determine whether they will be successful or not. Overall, sometimes people are given talents in life to do certain things, like becoming a professional in a sport. Some people abuse potential success by abusing drugs or alcohol. To be successful in life, people should not give up on anything. Success does not determine how intelligent a person is, but it’s their ability to have drive, like Michael Oher. He was a teen who had nothing, and turned himself into one of the most successful people in football. It does not matter where someone comes from or what someone’s background is, because if they want to become successful they have to believe that they can accomplish anything. America is challenged, and people should treat success with their full potential.

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