Heroes can be found in everyone and everywhere. Doctors, young children, and even teachers can be heroes. A teacher can be a role model, a source of support, and an inspiration. Erin Gruwell is an American teacher, an education activist, and the founder of the Freedom Writers Foundation. She changed countless lives, with one distinctive teaching method. Erin Gruwell was born on August 15, 1969, in California. Gruwell earned her diploma from Bonita High School and continued her studies at the University of California. She later studied at California State University to earn her Master’s …show more content…
Erin Gruwell, an autobiography on the Freedom Writers Foundation Website, states, “When I walked into my first class as a new teacher, I could not have been less prepared to deal with the harsh realities of the lives of my students or the way the outside world would crash into my classroom.” The 150 freshmen in her classroom were considered “unteachables” and they were not expected to graduate. No one could change the lives of these kids; they did not want to learn nor did anyone support them. Kids in the classroom were in gangs, they had problems at home, they were in poverty, and no one was there for them. Erin Gruwell made it a mission to change these students and connect with them as if they were her children but this was very challenging. Erin was white, she did not understand the situations, and the students disliked her because of these things. The administrators, her husband, and her dad expected her to quit as soon she learned about the violence in the class. Days later, she saw a drawing in the classroom that depicted one of her students (Sharaud) with big lips. From there on, she related this drawing to the Nazis because the Nazis would also draw pictures of the people they disliked. Mr. Pickle, an article titled “Erin Gruwell,” states, “This lead to the Holocaust. Erin found that her students never even knew about the Holocaust, but it was …show more content…
She changed the lives of her students through writing even when the students hated her the most, but she still continued her job. At some point, the students got to her, but she continued her job and changed the students' lives for the better. A true hero does their job in the best way they can, even if everyone is discouraging them and the world is getting in their way. Erin changed her career path of being a lawyer to a teacher because she wanted to make a difference in a unique way. She didn’t care if there was a low pay or if her family members got in the way, she knew that she had to be a teacher. Erin worked with students that were not expected to succeed and she made a brighter future for them. She worked the toughest times to change 150 teenage lives. Even though she changed 150 lives, she continued to change more through the Freedom Writers Foundation. A true hero finds many ways to change the world for the better. A hero is a normal person that does simple or bigger acts to change the world. They do their duty in the best way they can, even if anything tries to stop them. Erin Gruwell being one of many heroes changed multitudinous lives in many ways and she still continues doing