I have never really put any amount of thought into who “My Hero” is. I’ve always just said my hero was Michael Jackson without even pondering it. However, besides being an amazing musician, Michael Jackson has never really taught me any important or life-changing things. So when I really sat down and thought about this, I came to the conclusion that my good friend Jen is my hero. She has changed the course of my life in many positive ways. She has taught me to be grateful and to never take advantage of the little things in life, and more importantly, to stay optimistic.

Jen is of Hispanic and Mongolian heritage. She stands barely over four feet tall, is petite in almost every aspect. Despite her incredibly small stature, she still manages to be the most assertive, outgoing, and bossy person I know. If a thought pops into her head, its guaranteed to come out her mouth. Throughout her life she has somehow been able to remain very optimistic and happy through terribly difficult times; this is something I deeply respect about her.
Jen was born in Southern California, and she spent her first years living there. Her mother and father have always been poor and this made her childhood a lot more difficult. She moved to Fishers, Indiana when she was little. After many problems with their relationship, including cheating, fighting, and alcohol, her parents divorced. Jen, her mom, and her sister moved in with her aunt and her aunt’s family. Eventually they were forced to move again, this time they moved in with Jen’s mother’s best friend and her children. The apartment had only two bedrooms and both families had to squeeze into one room each. They had little money because Jen’s mom had a job that paid poorly. Then earlier this year Jen’s mom got in trouble with law and had to go to jail. Jen and her sister were forced to live with friends, going from house to house. Through this all, Jen remained strong and optimistic, the reason she is my hero. I remember hanging out with her during this time and she still was always so positive about things. She taught me that no matter what things will get better and as she says “always smile when it hurts the most”.

Kimmi is similar to Odysseus in the way that she was strong and incredibly brave through many hardships. She may not be fighting mythical monsters, but she had plenty demons of her own to battle. Just like Odysseus she always had hope, not of reaching Ithaka, but for her life to get much better. Obviously, I left out plenty of details out of my respect for Kimmi. She has changed my way of thinking, and I’m so grateful for it. Typing this paper has manifested it even more for me. Being positive is the best thing you can do, because as Kimmi said, “If everything isn’t perfect, it’s not the end.”