Helen Keller

     Last month I was required to do a research report on a topic of my choice. I have always been fascinated with Helen Keller, so I picked her. I read her book (The Story of My Life) and a couple other articles on the internet and got to work. There are a lot of things I learned about her that weren't in my history book. She wrote 12 books, several articles, lots of letters, and a story that she accidentally plagiarized. She knew sign language, read Braille, and learned how to speak by feeling the movement of the mouth and tongue and the vibrations of the larynx. (Think about teaching a deaf and blind person to speak... trying to talk with her hands in your mouth. Then she would stick her hands in her mouth then back into yours #howaboutno) She was deaf, yet she learned English, French, German, Greek, and Latin. (the only other language I know is pig latin...) She did a lot of cool things, and she didn't let her disabilities stop her. I think that's pretty inspiring. A lot of people don't even know how to properly clean a toilet, let alone know 5 different languages. There are a lot of ordinary things she did that are difficult even for people who can hear and see. Through all of her struggles, she kept a positive attitude and never gave up when people told her to quit.

-Dakota

All You Have To Do Is Believe (not really, but it helps)

     I am an optimist and I like to believe I can do things I can't. It's great, because sometimes the only thing I need for something to happen is hope, and if it doesn't work out I can still find a way to be happy.
     I have developed this logic from playing games in a gym on Sunday nights. We play a game called Resurrection, which is basically dodgeball on steroids. All you have to do is run around and throw balls at people (which by the way is extremely satisfying). If you get hit, you sit down until the person who hit you with their ball gets hit. Then they sit down and everyone who got hit by them gets up. Therefore it never ends. Unless something gets screwed up somehow, but that's never happened. Anyway, I love this game, but I have no aim whatsoever and can't catch to save a child. I usually end up taking the sneaky approach and hiding in the corner until someone comes within range, then I throw my ball at them when they aren't looking. The best thing is when they are one of the really good players who got a lot of people out, and half of the people sitting down are like "HALLELUJAH." But I still can't catch or throw, so those moments don't happen nearly as often as I'd like. What I discovered is that the power of believing in yourself really helps. (Also making sure you have good form when you throw). When I say to myself, "I can't catch," I don't. But if I start thinking, "I can throw this ball with the power of many flying unicorns (which would make it a pegasus) and hit that person," then I usually still don't, but I'm much closer than normal. Even though I didn't hit them, I am recognizing improvement.
     Moral of the story, sometimes being pessimistic just makes it worse. If you think, "I can't do this," you probably won't. Having a positive outlook is something that really helps me get through life. I have many reasons to be depressed, but I'm not because I know that good things far outweigh the bad.

-Dakota