The Underdogs
By: Neil McKeough
J.K. Rowling
J.K Rowling the author of the Harry Potter series had many similarities and differences from before and after she became a successful author. J.K Rowling had a lot of difficulties through her marriages and raising her children. She was able to be the underdog and became very successful through her great perseverance.
Before J.K. Rowling became a successful author she had many struggles. Rowling had saw herself as a failure because her marriage had failed, she was jobless and trying to raise a child. Instead of giving up she used the failure to allow her to focus on her writing. During that time Rowling was diagnosed with depression and even contemplated suicide. Her illness allowed her to create many of the dark scary characters for the Harry Potter series. Rowling had applied for welfare benefits because she barely had enough money to support her and her daughter. Before she became an author her life was a lot different.
Once J.K Rowling’s writing career took off her life changed drastically. In 1997 Rowling got her first book published and her career took off fast. Five months later she won the Nestle Smarties Book prize and later won Children’s book of the year. In 1998 Warner Bros. purchased the rights to her first two books and later bought the rest of her books. In 2004 Forbes Ranked Rowling as the second richest women which differs greatly from needing welfare just a few years earlier.
Although she made a major change in her life some things stayed the same. One thing that is similar throughout, is her love for writing, even when she felt like a failure she still loved writing. Another thing is her love for her daughter, she is the main reason why Rowling never gave up and kept trying.
J.K Rowling clearly had a lot of differences from before and after she became successful. One thing that differs is the view she had about herself, before she thought of herself as a failure and after she was far from being a failure. Another thing that is different is her wealth, before she needed assistance by getting welfare and after she was the second richest woman. J.K. Rowling truly went from rags to riches due to her perseverance through the adversities she faced.
info from www.wikipedia.org
"Miracle on Ice"
The 1980 United States men’s hockey team became an amazing underdog due to their perseverance through the difficulties they faced. On February 22, the United States National Team made up of amateur hockey players led by coach Herb Brooks, faced off against the Soviet Union National team. This game has been called the “Miracle on Ice” and it truly was a miracle.
First off all the United States Olympic team was made up of amatuer college athletes from rival colleges. Second, Herb Brooks prepared his team for the game and and got the team to work together by having long and tough practices daily. Third they persevered through the difficulties that they faced such as a loss to the Soviet team 13 days before by a score of ten to three. Next the U.S. played great defense and amazing offense to make the game four to three with seconds left. Finally they were able to triumph due to their hard work and determination when they scored the winning goal with just five seconds left.
Through the step that the United States Olympic team took they were able to defeat the Soviet team in the greatest event of the twentieth century. This event will be remembered forever as the “Miracle on Ice.”
info from www.wikipedia.org and www.aboutsports.com
Michael Oher
Michael Oher faced many problems as a child that he was able to persevere through with the help of football, his coaches, and his foster family.
One of the problems that Michael faced was that his parents were not there for him, his dad was in jail and his mom was an alcoholic and drug addict. He also struggled in school, and he had to repeat both first and second grade. Another problem he faced was he was put into foster care and bounced around many different foster homes.
One thing that helped solve his problems was he got adopted by Leigh Anne and Sean Touhy who got him a tutor to help him with his school work and helped him to become a better student. Another person that helped him was Coach Tim Long who helped him become a successful football player. Through these peoples help Michael was able to find the solutions to many of his problems.
Due to all of these people helping Michael out with his problems he was able to get many scholarships for football and chose to go to Ole Miss. Michael then went on to be drafted in the first round of the draft by the Baltimore Ravens. Through Michael’s support from his family and coaches he was able to solve many of the problems that he faced as a child.
info from www.wikipedia.org
Why We Cheer For The Underdog
Most people like to root for the underdog. One reason for this is they have hope for the unexpected team being able to take off the top team. The effect is that people cheer for the team who is not expected to win because they are playing the number one team. For the underdog team to pull of the win it is a true triumph. The effect of this is that people want to cheer for the underdog because it gives them the joy of that unexpected team or person being able to succeed due to their hard work. These are some of the causes of why we love to cheer for the underdog.
info from www.vox.com
What is a Underdog
A underdog is any person who has little chance at success and perseveres through adversities to succeed.
“It's always better to shock people and change people's expectations than to give them exactly what they think you can do”,said by Jonah Hill. For example, if everyone did exactly what was expected of them, there would be no change or diversity in our world. The underdog gives us that excitement that anyone can succeed if they try and never give up. A world without the underdog would be very boring.
The underdog is a universal icon that a team or person, who everyone expects to lose, but they are able to shatter everyone's expectations and are able to succeed.
info from www.wikipedia.org and www.brainyquotes.com