My Hero free essay sample

John C. Maxwell, an expert in leadership, defines leadership as influence. One leader in my life that has influenced me more than anyone else is a woman named Bailey. She is a formal cheerleader from Baylor University, and graduated with a degree in entrepreneurship. She then pursued a teaching career at my school for one year. While teaching at my school, Bailey influenced many lives including my own. She was my Bible teacher my freshman year, which was a good start to my high school. She always listens to me, and offers her advice on any question I have. She is always willing to help and has always been extremely selfless. Any time I am ever near her she is always smiling, and she has a gift to spread joy to anyone she is around. I shattered my ankle in the sixth grade and was forced to quit gymnastics. When I got off crutches in the eighth grade I started back up in tumbling. We will write a custom essay sample on My Hero or any similar topic specifically for you Do Not WasteYour Time HIRE WRITER Only 13.90 / page Bailey encouraged me to try cheer, and for three months, she spent multiple days a week after school teaching me and pouring into my life. Not only did Bailey help me in my academics and athletics, she continuously helped me in my spiritual life. She invests much of her time in listening to every word anyone has to say, and she never rushes them. She treats everyone as if they are the only person in the world she has to focus on. She constantly builds everyone up, and never makes anyone feel unimportant. She makes an effort to not just forget about a person the next year, but she keeps up with them. She never judges, and is always accepting of anything you tell her. Bailey can find a solution to any problem, and is always willing to work with you every step of the way. I always know I can come to her if I ever need an encouraging word, or just to see a sweet smile. Not only is she beautiful on the outside, her inner beauty shines brighter than anyone I have ever met. She is easy to spend time with and a person anyone could talk to for hours on end and get lost in the interesting conversations you would have. I will never forget her and I hope I am blessed with many more years with her. My Hero free essay sample The Seven Habits of Highly Effective People. How Full is Your Bucket? The self-help books of the decade. These both have been New York Times bestsellers. Government officials and average citizens throughout the world buy books and tapes on how to improve themselves and their lives. I won’t lie. I’ve delved into a couple of these books (you can’t avoid them with a paranoid mother). In each book I read, it stresses you grow from your mistakes, and that your â€Å"problems† make you stronger. Is it odd that I have grown more from one of my closest cousins’ trials and errors, and not my own? â€Å"Are they twins? They’re adorable!†My cousin and I used to get that each time we went to the local grocery store. We were inseparable. We would play horse in the fields, pick strawberries, and hoola-hoop the summers away. The years passed, but the summers were different. We will write a custom essay sample on My Hero or any similar topic specifically for you Do Not WasteYour Time HIRE WRITER Only 13.90 / page We drifted. Although she was far away, she was still my hero. I admired her hop scotch skills, her confidence, and how cool she was. Tanya. My best friend. We promised we would never drift, but it happened. It was almost like having my vision taken away. It was hard to live without. Today, she’s nineteen. She’s in prison, facing six felonies and forty years. Heroin and coke replaced me as her best friend. But they can’t laugh with her. They can’t swing with her, gossip about boys, or help mend a broken heart. She wasn’t even the same girl anymore. I felt like my hero had disappeared. So, who do I look up to now? I’m not trying to tell you a sob story. I know hardships happen in every family. But my cousin impacted me in a way that no one else has. By seeing her potential ruined, I realized I have a chance to make a difference. She was made for greatness, and I want to choose the path she could have taken. I’m planning on going for a psychology major, so I can do my best to prevent tragedies in other families. Maybe I can be like the self help book for a family in need. If I could help even one person like my cousin, I would be satisfied. I love Tanya dearly, and I wish for nothing but the best. But you don’t always get the best. The saying, â€Å"the most you can do is hope for the best, but expect the worse† has stuck with me. Thanks to my cousin, I’d like to change that. For myself, I hope and expect nothing but the best.