PHLIGHT SCHOOL

After getting slammed in spades by my father and grandfather this Saturday, I decided to sit down and watch the Olympics with the rest of my family. As the men’s 400M race was starting, the camera shifted to a South African runner. I immediately realized that he did not have the lower part of his legs. Who is this guy? I wondered. So, as I do with everything, I Google’d him and was mesmerized by his story. His name is Oscar Pistorius. Yesterday, August 4th 2012, he defied all odds and became the first amputee sprinter to compete at the Olympic Games. He finished second with a time of 45.44 seconds. This was a dream come true for him to just compete in the Olympics. He’s been trying to qualify to compete with “able-bodied” runners for 6 years now.

Born with fibula hemimelia, the absence of fibulas, in both legs, his legs were amputated from the middle of his knees to his ankles at 11 months old. Despite his disability, Pistorius has been playing sports since he was young, from rugby to water polo; Pistorius never let his disability define him. In an interview from the Daily Telegraph a London based newspaper, Pistorius stated, “You’re not disabled by the disabilities you have, you are able by the abilities you have”. Pistorius spent years proving that his does not have an advantage over runners without a prosthetic limbs and that he should be able to compete. In Summer 2012 Olympics he proved himself to the world.

His story is so encouraging because he never gave up on himself. He wanted to compete in the Olympics and he never let a panel telling him he does not qualify stop him. If you believe in something and work hard you can achieve it. His story allowed me to take a step back and look at myself and my worries and realize they are small compared to what he had to overcome. I can be anything I want to be, if I believe it and put forth the effort and work it takes to achieve it.

So I just want to encourage all you aspiring models, rappers, singers, athletes, writers, businessmen, etc, to think about what you want and go out and get it. Some beginning steps you can do is write out what your goal is, research your goal and jot down the steps you should take to achieve it. When you think about it, no one is stopping us but ourselves and as Pistorius stated we are able by the abilities that we have. So lets go!