ELA 10 – Final PRT

Unique Perspectives

Intro

“You gain strength, courage, and confidence by every experience in which you really stop to look fear in the face. You must do the thing you think you cannot do” – Eleanor Roosevelt.  Human beings, by nature, will gain strength, courage, resilience, and confidence with every passing experience that triumphs over our fears.  We all, at some point, must inevitably face circumstances that daunt us.  With each passing triumph, our perspective and ideology will be shifted, even just slightly.  Our personal perspective and ideology are the sum of our experiences.  Proving to ourselves that we can overcome such challenges will reaffirm the uniqueness of our perspectives and ideas.  In literary works, stories, and other narratives, the human experience is represented by the protagonists in the story, such as the case with Homer as our protagonist in October Sky.  In October Sky, it is highly prevalent how Homer gained such strength, courage, and changes in himself by facing his fears head-on.  In the real world, I myself have faced challenges surrounding academics and studies, the likes of which are only amplified by challenges related to the current pandemic.  Be it in narrative stories or in the real world, human beings regularly face adversities that shape our perspectives and ideologies to be more unique in the end.  

A Unique Perspective In Story

Homer Hickam is an exemplary illustration of how facing such adversity can redefine and differentiate a perspective.  As we see in the film, Homer’s character development can be equally correlated with his power of choosing to persevere through adversity.  For example, although a myriad of rocket tests go awry throughout his journey, Homer makes bold choices to continue testing and innovating.  Homer makes bold choices to look fear in the eye and do things that he has doubts about.  Following this newfound innovation and success beyond doubt, Homer had forged in himself a more unique perspective; a perspective shaped by overcoming adversity.  This overcoming of adversity changed Homer’s identity and perspective from one that was more unfruitful and unoriginal, to one that allowed him to gain some celebrity status and recognition among his people.  Also at the beginning of his story arc, we see Homer as a young boy without much hope for his future, but, with a little inspiration from seeing Sputnik in the night sky, Homer begins his journey of looking fear in the face, and gaining on strength and courage along the way. He began his journey in which he regularly faced challenges which molded his perspective to be all the more special.  

My Unique Perspective

Alongside our protagonists facing fears in stories and literature, so must we also look our fears in the face and flourish in strength for ourselves in the real world.  In my own personal life, school has of course become stressful as a result of approaching final exams.  An honest challenge I myself had to face is that of staying on top of schoolwork and grades, especially at a time when in-person class attendance is dicey because of an ongoing pandemic.  A difficulty I had to face every day was that it took serious discipline showing up for class on time four times a day for two weeks, but I managed notwithstanding.  Getting all of my assignments in was also something I managed to do, most of which actually came in on time.  Moving forward, I learned from overcoming these tribulations that academics taking precedence in my life would ultimately be best in the end.  My perspective was made more unique by my experiences as a student, which reaffirmed that academics and studies would benefit me the most.  

Outro

Beit in narrative stories or in the real world, human beings have to face challenges in order for our perspectives to become unique.  Seeing as how human beings are, in substance, defined by unique perspectives and ideas, doing the things we think we cannot do is a necessity.  Homer Hickam didn’t think that he could make a name for himself, but he did and made his perspective an exceptionally unique one in the process.  I myself had my perspective shifted and revised from persevering through studies and academics.  This overcoming of adversity to better one’s self is truly a staple of the human experience that we encounter throughout our lives.  And, when our life comes to an end, how will our experiences then have defined the uniquity of our own perspective?