Process Essay: Who Are Heroes?

Jaylen Brooks
Professor Leath
WRC 1023.004
1 March 2014
Essay 2
Who Are Heroes Nowadays? “A hero is an ordinary individual who finds the strength to preserve and endure in spite of overwhelming obstacles” (“Christopher”). According to Merriam-Webster’s, a hero is “a legendary or mythological figure often of divine descent endowed with great strength or abilities” (“hero”). The criterion of a hero is quite clear cut. The person must show courage, special attributes, is highly praised and respected, and has a high influence on others. There are plenty of everyday heroes in today’s society that society encounters and interacts with on a daily basis; different professions like police officers, teachers, even parents are heroes in some sort of way.
By comparing these three together, there are four qualities that these heroic titles all have in common.
They all are leaders in some kind of way, authority figures to someone, well-respected, and also experienced in what they do. For example, the majority of the public looks at police officers as heroic icons because of how they risk their lives to protect and serve everyone else. They are well respected because of how much courage these men and women have to go out each and every day to save others. To have courage means to “have the quality of mind or spirit that enables a person to face difficulty, danger, pain etc., without showing much fear”, and it takes courageous people to put their own lives in jeopardy in order to rescue someone else (“courage”). These authority figures lead by example to make sure everyone lives as safely and as comfortable as possible. They clearly have the qualifications of being considered
heroes.
Another hero in the everyday world would be a teacher. Although teachers do not put their lives on the line everyday like a police officer, they have power in what they do for a living. Teachers are great leaders who possess the power to educate the next generation, so they too can be productive in the world. Teachers not only have to prepare lesson plans for their students daily, but they also have to act as alternative parents, or sometimes counselors, physicians, mentors, or referees. Some teachers are with their students more than they are with their own families, which shows the determination these teachers put into their jobs in order to give their students the best quality of education they can probably give.
Lastly, the probably most-unappreciated hero is a parent. Most parents sacrifice to make sure their children are happy before they are. Parents fit perfectly under being a hero because they are brave, selfless, and often inspiring. The parents are their children’s guiders in showing them from right and wrong. Mothers show their children how to be caring and loving to themselves as well as others. Fathers are the protector and the anchor of the families, making everyone fell safe. Fathers especially are important to their sons because they teach them how to become men and protectors. Fathers are important to his daughters because they shape their self-esteem, self-image, confidence and most times opinions of men. These everyday heroes receive no kind of reward in raising their children but the satisfaction that they did the best job in producing and raising children who will hopefully someday be productive in the world.
Overall, citizens encounter and interact with regular-day heroes on a daily. Heroes like police officers risk their lives every day to protect and serve the public; heroes like teachers go above and beyond their job descriptions to not only teach but serve as alternative parents and care takers; and lastly, parents get no reward for their heroic acts, but they are highly praised and respected for what they do.