Hero

What is a hero to you? See, when I hear the word hero, I think of a little skinny dude in tights running around with bulging muscles, a flowing cape, and sometimes no neck, due to their very large trapezius muscles…just kidding. Or sometimes, heroes are wanna-be’s, and they are only evil and hungry for power, like Sylar from the show Heroes or the Joker from Batman or Gargamel from the Smurfs.

But seriously, what is a hero to you? This word has different definitions, but I think it has been misinterpreted and redefined. What people don’t remember about the real definition of a hero is that anyone has the ability to be one. A hero is “a man distinguished by exceptional courage and nobility and strength,” according to Webster's.

Military people are definitely heroes. They sometimes get disrespected and taken for granted, but they deserve so much honor and reverence for what they are doing for us. If you’ve ever seen the movie The Guardian, I’d hope you feel the same way. They risk absolutely everything they have to save other peoples’ lives. It’s amazing to me that they are that willing to serve other people.

However, military men and woman aren’t the only heroes in the world today. Ordinary people can be superheroes everyday. Giving up your seat for an elderly or disabled person might be considered a heroic act to them, even though it may seem really insignificant to you. Just saying something nice to someone may make their day. You could be their hero for giving them a smile or saying their jacket was pretty or whatever. I once heard a story about this boy who had cleaned out his locker, and he was on his way home from school one day carrying all of his books. He dropped them and another guy from the same school saw him and helped him pick them up. Come to find out, the reason that boy cleaned out his locker was because he was going home to commit suicide. He felt like no one cared for him, but when this other boy showed him kindness, it changed his mind. And how simple was it for that boy to help him pick up some books? Not that hard. Yet, he chose to be a hero.

Jesus was the biggest hero ever, though. How many of us would give up a home of perfection and go live with people who hurt us constantly? I’d say that none of us would. But Jesus not only came to live with humans; He also died for them. That, to me, is true heroism.

Anytime we hear the word “hero” and simply think of a cartoon character running around or a guy driving his Batmobile, we need to remember that the word “hero” has a much deeper definition and can apply to any of us, anywhere, at any time of any day.

We should look at everyday as a battle to be won, a challenge to be faced, or an obstacle to be overcome, and we should work our hardest to seize every opportunity to be someone’s hero. As seniors, we have such a huge leadership role. We should take advantage of our “seniority” and make every effort to be the hero in someone’s life each day of our last year of high school. Don’t worry so much about what other people are doing. Fight your own fight, do what you know is right, and sooner or later, other people will start to follow you. Go, fight, win, seniors!




--Lindsey Kolbe