Will McDonough Writing Contest

                Michael Oher has overcome extreme disadvantages throughout the entirety of his life. After experiencing countless tragedies as a child and throughout his teenage years, Oher has developed into a stellar athlete in the NFL.

                He was born in Memphis Tennessee where he was just one of Denise Oher’s twelve children.   His mother was an alcoholic and crack addict, and his father, Michael Jerome Williams, was often in prison because of his involvement with drugs. He had to repeat both first and second grade and ended up going to eleven different schools in his first nine years of education. He received very little attention growing up due to the lack of a guiding figure. At just the young age of seven he was constantly in and out of foster homes and even at times he was homeless. Even when Michael finally made it to his senior year of high school, his father was stabbed and killed in a prison cell. Oher struggled throughout high school, and until he was adopted by the Tuohy’s he was going nowhere in life. However, when they adopted him, took him into their home, fed him, and got him a personal tutor, he turned his whole life around. He started playing three sports, football, track and basketball, and he was an all star at all three. He won the league title with his basketball team and he was a state runner-up in the discus for spring track. Football was where he shined most, as he was named Divison II Lineman of the Year and made the first-team all star team. Oher did so well that he was the number 5 recruit out of all the offensive linemen in the country. Though he received football scholarship offers from Tennessee, LSU, Alabama, Auburn and South Carolina, he ended up choosing Ole Miss, where both of his parents attended college. He was great throughout college and ultimately ended up achieving his dream of becoming an NFL athlete.

                Michael Oher is a true inspiration for everything he has accomplished. Coming from such a rough place, it is really admirable that he was able to become so successful. With no parents, eleven other siblings, and constantly switching homes and schools, he overcame a ridiculous amount of adversity. He inspires me to do well in school and to know that if I work as hard as he does, then I can overcome anything and make myself as successful as him someday.