One of my favorite athletes: Bethany Hamilton

One of my favorite athletes is Bethany Hamilton.  She is a professional woman surfer sponsored by Ripcurl.  But, that’s not that main reason I admire her.  In 2003, she was attacked by a tiger shark while she was out for a morning surf with her friend Alana Blanchard (also a professional surfer) and Alana’s dad and brother.  She had lost nearly 60% of her blood by the time she got to the hospital.  She miraculously survived, and less than a month later got back into the water and started surfing again.  It wasn’t easy at first but she didn’t give up, and she’s still surfing to this day, with one arm.  She was recently in Bali, and I got to meet her and get a poster signed.  It was really cool to meet her, and she is a really nice person, surfer or not.   She has an autobiography which was released in 2004 called Soul Surfer: a True Story of Faith, Family, and Fighting to get back on the Board.  In 2011 her movie Soul Surfer, based on the book, came out.  I have seen the movie, and it’s really well done and very inspiring.  It’s definitely a movie worth watching.  

Bethany at the 2004 Teen Choice awards (age 13 or 14):

                                                       Bethany Hamilton now (age 22):

                                                    

 Bethany Surfing:

Who motivated me to be the person I am today?

I can think of a lot people that have inspired or motivated me in some way.  It’s too hard to pick just one person.  Different people have motivated me in different ways.  One of the people that made me who I am today is my mom.  She always helps me, and she’s easy to talk to.  She’s motivated me to do a lot of important things, including schoolwork.   My dad has also inspired me to be myself and not give up.   I think my personality is more like his, and I see a lot of the same characteristics in myself as in my dad.   So, my parents are two of the people that have inspired me and probably the main people that have made me who I am today.

    Some of my friends are also the people that have made me who I am today.   I have some really awesome friends who encourage me and love me for who I am.  They give me advice and encourage me to do stuff, even when I don’t want to.  On the other hand, I know some people who don’t like me for who I am, and they motivate me even more to be myself.   They make me realize how stupid it is to be somebody you’re not just to please other people.  

  My grandma (on my dad’s side) is also someone who inspires me.  Even though she’s 70 her personality is like someone who is 20.   She has a fun, go-getter personality, and she doesn’t care what people think about her.  I wish I could be more like her.

   There are probably more people I should list but those are some of the main people that inspire me.  So I just want to say thank you to everyone who has inspired or motivated me in any way and made me the person I am today.  

Pictures of my work experience

These are the kids eating lunch.....

This is me in front of the Ps-4 classroom......