The essence of heroism

When you think of the word "hero" the average American would say a fireman, maybe a police man, or, depending how old they are, even superman, but to truly be able to classify a person as a hero we must understand the word. A hero is a person noted for courage or greatness, states Webster's Dictionary, which means that the average American is right, but the they only thinks of great actions like saving a bus full of people from a bomb. This is great and all, but it is not just limited to that. By definition a hero can be as simple as a person conquering a fear or even getting an "A" on a test nobody else did. With this being said, in the most basic sense, everyone of us is a hero in our own way. No, we do not have magical powers, no, we do not fight in wars, but we reach goals and accomplishments that name us heroes everyday. So, yes, Mrs. Dupuy is a hero, yes, the president is a hero, however much we do not like him, he still is, and yes, every person in America, well at least most of us, are heroes. Now the average American would not recognize this so let us take a step into their minds. To them a hero is a person who saves lives, they only think of extraordinary feats. Their views are narrow, but they still have a good basis. To support this I asked my mom who she thought was a good example of a hero. She said the most typical American answer. A soldier. Then I asked her why. She said because they save people's lives by sacrificing their own. This is a good answer, a great answer really, but it is a typical one. Nobody ever thinks of the simple actions we all do everyday as heroic. So, as I close, think of what you did today and ask yourself, am I a hero?