For my inspirational man, I chose to go with Peter Tabichi, a Kenyan science teacher at Keriko Mixed Day Secondary School.

I picked this man because of his devotion and willingness to give back all of his goods to his community. He donates around 80% of his monthly salary to help his school and children in his local village. Not only has he given a lot of money, but he also started a peace club and teaches locals how to grow better crops so that they stay healthy. Because of all of these acts of selflessness, he obtained the status of the 2019 Global Teacher Prize winner. This prize is a competition that receives over 10000 teachers worldwide.

After winning his 1 million dollar prize, he stated in an interview that “He plans to use the money from his win to improve the school and feed the poor.” (global news) Because of all of these previous selfless acts of kindness, I am sure that he will keep helping his community in many various forms.

A man who inspires me is Harry Styles. I find that I usually do not find men inspiring; I usually find their accomplishments inspiring, but nothing about them as people, except that they had the intelligence, confidence, courage and capabilities to acheive what they did. What I find more inspiring are attributes that I find rare in men, like being humble, kind, and giving a helping hand to those in need, as well as talking about feelings. However, Harry Styles, a famous singer, is a man who not only has accomplished so much, but he uses his platform to encourage openness, like how he embraces his feminine side despite all the eyes and media on him. He has the courage to be true to himself amidst all the scrutiny he faces, and that is what I find so brave and remarkable.

The man that I chose for my blog is none other than Colin Kaepernick, the man at the centre of sports controversy for the last couple of years. Colin was a Quarterback for the 49ers for the 2016 NFL Season that decided to take a knee during the playing of “The Star-Spangled Banner” to show that he doesn’t want to stand for a country that oppresses black people and people of colour. This happened after the series of African-American deaths caused by police brutality/shootings. Since the incident, owners of NFL teams have conspired to not sign him and consequently he is not playing in the NFL anymore. I feel inspired by his story and his bravery because he sacrificed his whole career in believing in what he believed in and didn’t think twice in standing up. Currently, he is an activist that founded the “Know Your Rights” camp that teaches disadvantaged youths about legal rights and self-empowerment and has done several donations to charities.

Colin inspires me because he taught us that we need to stand up and fight in what we believe in no matter the consequences. I guess I find people that fight for their rights, ideas and to change society inspirational such as Martin Luther King, Rosa Parks and numerous others.

Elon Musk is who I have chosen for this blog post. Born in South Africa in 1971, Elon is now one of the most successful entrepreneur/engineer in the world. Due to his perseverance and great vision of what is to be accomplished, Elon has achieved what many would call “the American Dream”. While this is undoubtedly true, he has done much more. As a result of his company SpaceExplorations’ unthinkable achievements and drastic rocket improvements, Elon himself set a new standard for space missions across the world. How can one man possibly compete with an organization such as NASA?? Not knowing the answer to this question is why I cannot help but be inspired by his story. If we only look at what he’s accomplished in the space industry, it can be easy to forget that Elon is also responsible for the epidemic of “eco-friendly” cars who have been invading our streets. Already 17 years ago, in 2003, Musk founded the well-known company “Tesla” hoping to prove to the world that electricity was the future. While pursuing his dreams, Elon Musk has a positive impact on the world’s future as well as everyone’s lives which is simply admirable.

One of the firsts examples that came to my mind when thinking about an inspirational man, was Uncle Iroh from the tv show Avatar the Last Airbender. Uncle Iroh seems to be able to remain calm and to enjoy life. At the same time, he guides his nephew through decisions and difficult times. He focuses on others and learns from different people. He listens to others and is extremely patient with his nephew. He always has good advice and is ready to help everyone even strangers.

In our world, I think Martin Luther King has been an inspiration for many of us. The way he chose to fight peacefully over violence and hatred is admirable. I would hope all of us can learn something from his actions. He decided he wanted a better future for children of color, so he went against the violation of human rights. And his speech is known by plenty of people now days as well as the phrase: “I have a dream”

I think that, to be inspirational, a person has to be an example of what you aspire to be or do. Someone can inspire people because of his work, his music or art. On the other hand, someone might be an inspiration because of the values that he or she possesses. They can also be inspirational by presenting to you new perspectives and a way of life that you may want to follow. In conclusion, someone that gives us a lesson or insight in our life.  

A person that has been an inspiration to me since my childhood is Saku Koivu, a former centre and captain of the Montreal Canadiens.

On September 6th 2001, Koivu was diagnosed with Burkitt’s lymphoma. Even after receiving such devastating news, he stated that he wouldn’t give up and that he would win this fight. This incredible strong spirit and perseverance led him to recover fully and return on the ice on April 9th 2002. In the years following his remarkable recovery, he created the Saku Koivu Foundation which helped provide Montreal with its first PET/CT, located at the Montreal General Hospital, as well as fund Cancer & Trauma initiatives in collaboration with the Montreal General Hospital Foundation. To me, what qualifies someone to be considered an inspiration is their positive impact on the world; it is their selflessness, their courage, their generosity, their optimism… Saku Koivu makes you want to be a better person, to help others and to never give up, no matter how dire the situation seems. He has taught many – he has taught me – that there is more to life than winning a hockey game; winning is knowing that you have made someone else’s life better.

The man who I have chosen for this blog post is my high school music teacher named Pierre. He was an extremely passionate man who always pushed us to be the best we could be. He himself was a professional trombonist for many years in different orchestras. He eventually had to give up playing seeing as he developed an issue with his jaw that made him unable to keep performing. This didn’t stop him from keeping music in his life by becoming a teacher. Through his teaching and drive to help students understand the importance of music, I discovered my passion. He is the reason I am pursuing music now in CEGEP and hopefully in university next year. For the last 15 years, Pierre has been inspiring and helping students like me discover the beauty of the music world. His love for this art form was felt throughout the classroom and I always think of him whenever I have an important audition approaching. For these reasons, he has inspired me in my life and will continue to inspire others for his whole career.

Kobe Bryant.

Kobe Bryant recently passed away on January 26th 2020 during a helicopter crash. Sadly, one of his daughters were part of it. He’s one of the best players in basketball history and many people look up to him. He retired at the end of the 2015–2016 NBA season after playing with the Los Angeles Lakers. That was one of my favourite basketball teams. Bryant was also a very smart and cerebral player. He has inspired many athletes around the world. Growing up, my dad always loved basketball and hoped that one day his daughter would be part of a team but I ended up liking girly things but I still enjoy watching basketball games. Kobe is inspirational to me because he was able to use his platform to teach kids lessons from his experiences and mindset throughout his journey as a professional NBA player. He also wrote five books towards young adults who wants to become athletes. In my opinion, to be considered “inspirational” you have to be able to very encouraging, speak through ambitions and be passionate on what you want to bring out into the world. Kobe Bryant did an amazing job on being inspirational, I just can’t believe that him and his daughter had passed.

Everyone has someone who inspired them the most. Some might be a celebrity and others might be a teacher or a friend.  In my case, my role model is my brother. His name is Michael Wu and he is 21 years old. Many people perceive my brother as a normal university student who has nothing in particular. However, for me, they are wrong.  My brother might look reserved and calm. But, when you actually get to know him, he is exceptional. His mindset, thoughts and qualities differentiate himself from others young adults of his age. He inspires me because he is optimistic no matter what kind of scenarios he is facing. As an example, at the age of 12, when the registration period for the high schools came, he missed the opportunities to apply because he was abroad for some family issues. Therefore, it only let him one chance which is to apply to an IB high school. However, the entrance exam for an IB school is harder than a normal public school. At that time, not only he was facing some family pressures. But, he also needed to overcome his personal pressure because it was the only opportunity left. Even though, he was facing a crucial challenge. He told me that everything would be fine and that there’s always a solution to everything. Additionally, he reminds me that even if he failed the test, he would learn from his failure and do better in the future. Without a doubt, by keeping that mindset and beliefs for all those years, he overcomed many challenges. Now, he works for a successful company as a back-in programmer. On top of that, not only has he reached his goals, but he also inspired me a lot with his speech.

In my perspective, I considered someone as inspirational when they are perseverant, honest and ethical. For me, perseverance is important. In life, you’ll go through many challenges. If you give up whenever you encounter a small obstacle, you won’t go far in life. Apart from that, honesty and ethic are essential because they are the basic characteristics that you need to build trust with others. Human are constantly in interactions with others, if you’re not honest or ethical, you might be rejected or create harms to others. To finish, I think that in order to be considered inspirational, you need to learn from your mistakes. If you want to be successful or happy in life, learning from your mistakes is the first step. It’s by learning from your past mistakes that you could improve yourself and become a better person in the future. Therefore, it is through my brother that I fully understand the following quote: “Never regret a day in your life. Good days give you happiness and bad days give you experience.” – Rocky Balboa

An athlete who has inspired me from a young age is Kobe Bryant. He was in my opinion the greatest shooting guard to play the game of basketball. His dedication and work ethic was like no other. He was a born leader who feared nothing. I was always inspired by his loyalty and hard work. He played his entire 20 year career with the Los Angeles Lakers. Bryant was passionate about everything he did and always pushed himself beyond his limits. His recent passing is very tragic and will have a large effect on many.

Thank you for everything. 

R.I.P Kobe ;/