September 3 2012

My family believes that you can make a change whether for better or worse. Take the examples of Bill Gates and Adolf Hitler. Both have made a change, but in different ways. Hence, my answer to the question Is it best for people to accept who they are and what they have, or should people always strive to better themselves?Is a definite yes.

Chris Gardner was born into a poor family. He was sent to foster care at eight years old and spent his childhood continually being adopted and abandoned. He divorced his wife after three years of marriage. He was responsible for taking care of his 18 month son, having the worst time in his life until he decided to make a change.

He got an idea when he saw at a man who looked very happy. Chris asked this man how he could be so happy and the man said that he was a stockbroker and it was the best job he had ever had. From that day and on, Chris started studying and had an interview with the CEO and other managers in the company. Surprisingly, he got converted to a regular employee. In ten years, Chris published a book called The Pursuit of Happyness (the title was meant to have a y), which was eventually made into a Hollywood movie with Will Smith and his son Jade Smith, playing Chris Gardner and his son.

When I was in sixth grade, there was a seventh-grade boy getting bullied by a lot of students. They would make a Facebook page teasing him about his fashion and lack of humor. No one would play with the boy  because they were scared to become the next victim. He would always sit alone in the cafeteria and get excluded if he tried to become friends with a group. This went on for about three months when the teachers found out, through the boy and a few students who were brave enough to stand up. Although the students who teased him were suspended for about a week and the bullying stopped, the boy and his parents decided to move.

These are two examples of how you can make yourself better. It doesn’t matter who you are or what kind of situation you are in. Once you decide to do it, there is a high possibility that you will make a change. Those who have accepted who they are and what they have probably never tried to convince themselves to make a change.