‘Hero’ by Evelyn Chavez

This piece was part of the Ánimo Voices Competition, which invited students to write about innovators, upstanders, visionaries, or rebels that have made a difference in their local or broader communities. The competition was an opportunity to motivate, recognize, and celebrate our strong student voices through writing and art.

Hero

by Evelyn Chavez, 7th grade, Ánimo Florence Firestone Charter Middle School

“Hero; “any time you hear the word hero the first people that pop into our minds are superheroes like Batman, Superman, Robin, Wonder Woman, etc. But what if I tell you that heroes are among us? What if I tell you that I have dwelled with a hero since the day I was born? This hero does not have any superpowers; he’s not known by anyone. Would you still consider him a hero? You might be wondering who is this hero that can’t even fly, whom has no fame? Well, that hero is Luis Alberto Chavez, my father. Today, I will tell you why determination, wisdom, and humbleness makes my father my hero.

My father is a hero because he is somebody determined, and the actions he takes show his determination, which inspires me. For example, one day my dad was doing his homework for the college he goes to prepare himself to be a missionary so he can speak about the great gift that God offers humanity. When my father was done, he revised his homework and he saw that he did not meet the objective. For a moment, I thought that my dad was going to quit and not care if he gets a zero because he typed his homework about three times. I stood corrected because he did it again and at the end he got a perfect score. As we can see, this characteristic of determination we can find it in heroes like in one of my favorite superheroes, Batman. Batman falls in a hole and his father rescues him. Batman asks the following: “why do we fall?’’ and his father answers “so we can learn how to get back up.” This shows that heroes can trip sometimes and if they wouldn’t get back up and try until the end, then there will be no happy ending or victory. We can see this characteristic in my father as well. My father with his determination actually got the victory and taught me that in life determination is something that you need in order to achieve your goals.

Another reason my father is a hero is because my father possesses the virtue of being wise. You might be wondering, “how does wisdom make someone a hero?’ ’Well, for you to be able to understand why wisdom makes my father a hero, you need to know what wisdom means. Wisdom means knowing what’s good for you and knowing what are those things that can harm you or others. This makes my father a hero because with his wisdom he gives me the desire to have it as well and be just like him. For example, once my father’s friends were offering him a drink. You might be thinking, what’s wrong with a drink?’’ Well, the problem was that the drink was alcohol. My father looked at the drink then looked at my mother, my brothers and then he looked at me. I thought that my father was going to get it and stay with them, but no. My father rejected that drink. This makes my dad a hero because he was able to make a good decision which any hero would have to make; for example, in the movie Batman vs. Superman, Superman has to choose between his girl or saving the world, and he was so wise that he chose saving the world. I am comparing Superman with my father because my dad was able to make a wise decision by not wanting the good feeling of the drink but being a good example, just like Superman when he thought about others and not himself.

Finally, I can say that my father is a hero because he is humble, but how does being humble make someone a hero? Humbleness makes my father a hero because he shows that heroes need to be humility. For example, one day my mom and my dad got in an argument which almost broke their marriage; so my dad thought about us, what will happen to us, to our childhood, and happiness? He thought that the only way he can save his marriage was by humbling himself. He had to humble himself; he got on his both knees and looked straight at my mom and asked for forgiveness even though he knew that it wasn’t his fault. This can strongly prove that my father is a hero because we can see this type of humbleness in a hero like of my favorites, Jesus. If he wouldn’t have humbled himself to the lowest point, there wouldn’t have been hope nor salvation from death. If he wouldn’t have suffered all that he suffered, hell would have been our eternal home. If my father wouldn’t have humbled himself, I wouldn’t say that I’m happy we are together now. Would I even be writing about him?
In conclusion, as we can see, my father through his actions has deserved indeed the title hero which by the way not anyone can get that easily. My father might not fly, he might not as well have any superpowers but because of all his actions, characteristics, and convictions he has indeed showed that he is my true hero, and best of all, he will always be with me and most importantly his love will never change.