Inspiration - Where Does It Come From?

Do you ever wonder where you get your inspiration from? Inspiration can come from various sources. It can come from your parents, your teachers, maybe that special someone, or perhaps from a famous celebrity. Who knows? Well, over the past summer, I read the biography The Blind Side: Evolution of a Game by Michael Lewis. The biography is about how the game of football has changed since the arrival of Laurence "LT" Taylor, and it was also about the story of Michael Oher, a professional football player who plays for the Baltimore Ravens. Reading the biography about Oher has inspired me and taught me a huge life lesson: anything is possible.

Reading about Oher's life has changed my life. Oher was considered homeless since he ran away from every foster home he was assigned to. He had nobody since his father had died. His mother had a drug problem and was not fit to take care of her children. At first Oher did not do well in his the prep school he was a student there. He struggled but never gave up. With the help of a tutor and the support of his new adopted family, Oher eventually was accepted into the University of Mississippi. After reading the biography, I asked myself, "What am I doing?" I'm a high school senior with an 80 average, and I know I have the potential to do much better. It was because I was unconcerned about my education. Since I was unmotivated, I wanted to change and I knew that I need to change my lifestyle.

After reading Oher's biography, I knew I needed to clean up my act, so I began to change my whole life style. I went out and applied for a new job at a Library. I work four days a week for three hours a day. Previously I had lost my job at McDonald's in the beginning of the summer due to the economy. This extra free time made me irresponsible because I didn't feel obligated to do anything productive. The Blind Side made me realize that a job would help me become more responsible again. I also had begun to prepare for the upcoming SAT's. My score on the SAT I took in May wasn't good enough for most of the universities that I was interested in attending. I did not prepare properly the first time for this important exam. This time I prepared for my SAT's and I received a 1510. The score I received was not too bad, but I did much better in the critical reading and writing sections than I did on my first test. Since school started, I have been trying to stay on top of my homework. So far, I have been doing better than I did in previous years. I have been also studying for my school tests because I used to get decent test grade during my first two years in high school; however, the results would have been much better had I studied for them. In addition I also changed the way I was saving my money. I was horrible at saving money because used to spend most of my paycheck on clothes and technology items, even when I did not really need these items.