Many people are born with disabilities that lead others to believe they can't do certain things. Sometimes the disabilities do prevent the person from various activities, while other times, the disabilities is just an obstacle that can be overcome. The article The Natural by Mike Tierney tells the story of Zach Hodskins and his basketball life, and the fact that he was born with only half of his left arm. Hodskins is an excellent basketball making his way through the sport with a disability that doesn't prevent him from achieving his dreams. He even sees his disability as an advantage; "In some ways, his disability became an advantage. 'It made me want to worker harder to overcompensate for things people said I couldn't do'"(Tierney). He started basketball when he was five, and in a few years he loved it. Even though it was hard for him, he kept his dream of playing in college. He parents even told him to dial it down and relax because he was pushing himself so hard.
About a year ago a video was posted online by a scouting service. The video now has four million hits and it is a clip of Hodskins' highlights. Hodskins has now landed a preferred walk-on for the University of Florida which means he'll make the team. His dream has finally come true! He didn't let his ability get in the way and doesn't want other kids with disabilities to let their disability to get in the way of their dreams. He also doesn't want people to hide their disabilities; he wants people to be themselves and not hide the true them.
In this article, I think the author wants me to feel confident in myself and wants me to think that I can do basically anything as long as I work hard and try my best. Throughout the whole article the author talks about Hodskins' challenges and how he pushes past them to get what he has dreamed of. For every challenge mentioned, the author either includes a quote saying how Hodskins just worked harder and believed in himself, or a general statement showing the positive outcome. For example, towards the beginning of the article, the article states: "Hodskins was once thought even by his family to have a better chance of becoming president than playing basketball for a college powerhouse"(Tierney). That negative statement is then followed by a positive one: "Yet, the university of Florida, which has won back-to-back national titles in the past decade, has guaranteed him a roster spot next season" (Tierney). The author is constantly showing how Hodskins rises above people expectations and how he is achieving his dreams through hard work to help show the reader that they can do the same for their dreams.
Although, the article is rather deceiving because it's only from one perspective and the author only mentions Hodskins' accomplishments. The author also only uses quotes from Hodskins himself talking about his positivity and hard work and from situations in which Hodskins' hard work paid off. Not once in the article is one of Hodskins' failures mentioned. Not once is anything completely negative with a negative outcome mentioned. But the author is just trying to get across the point that your dreams can come true if you work hard.
This article really made me feel confident in myself and kind of pushed me to work harder for what I want. It was nice reading about someone whose dreams came true even though everyone doubted that they would. This article made me think of other kids with disabilities and how they would feel after reading this article. Hopefully this article would make them feel happy and sure of themselves. Even though people don't always get what they have dreamed of, it was satisfying to read about someone who did.
