The word hero is a very complicated term for me. It gets passed around with ease throughout daily life for varying reasons. Some deserving, but many not. The Oxford Dictionary defines hero as, “A person, typically a man, who is admired or idealized for courage, outstanding achievements, or noble qualities.” Courage, outstanding achievements, or noble qualities. Just the other day I returned a lost student card to a girl on campus and out of excitement she said, “oh my goodness, you are my hero”. I seem to have missed what part of returning a simple lost card was courageous, outstanding or noble.. It’s a complicated thing, to define what makes a hero, because it is different for everyone. In this case, this is my blog, so I will enlighten you about how I define a hero. As humans, it is our primary goal to live and sustain life as long as possible. To me, a hero is someone who selflessly helps another individual sustain life, regardless of the means. In spite of our individuality, at the end of the day we are all humans with one common instinct to survive. When put to the test, we can often handle more than we ever expected of ourselves, but it is not always for others when they are the ones in danger and we have a chance to save them. I grew up with a father who was a firefighter, every saturday I would beg him to tell me about his job and he would humbly tell me stories of the people he and his team had saved from dangerous situations. He was a hero, a man who saved people he had never even met before and did not expect any kind of special recognition. This adds to what a hero is; a hero is someone who selflessly saves lives and remains humble.

My definition of a hero was shaken a year ago when I was put in a situation with a helpless person. I stared at them as their lips turned blue and knew I had to do something while wondering why it was me there and not someone more qualified. Thinking of the individual and their family I began doing CPR, but by the time emergency services arrived there was no hope for the individual. I felt incredibly defeated and tried my best to avoid eye contact with the family and friends of the victim. A man slowly walked up to me, knowing what I had done, and introduced himself as “the best friend”. Unexpectedly, he embraced me and quietly told me I was his hero. As I pulled away, I looked him in the eye for the first time and I told him, “I am no hero. Hero’s save lives, and I was not able to do that.”, to which he replied, “No, hero’s give people their best chance at survival. Because of you we can know that my friend had the best chance at survival possible, which gives me incredible peace. He was given a chance. Thank you for being my hero.” So again my definition of a hero was changed slightly; a hero is someone who selflessly gives another their best chance at living and remains humble.

As we analyze 9/11 through the book Extremely Loud and Incredibly Close  by Jonathan Foer, the concept of hero’s and victim’s comes up various times. Of course, the people within the building are presented as victims and the emergency services as the hero’s.

This becomes apparent almost any time the topic of 9/11 is brought up. Although, the book presents another potential hero, “The Falling Man”. He is brought up various times throughout the book and idolized by the young protagonist, Oskar. His noble quality was his ability to not allow the terrorists to take his life in a fiery hell, but rather he took matters into his own hands. Branching out from the September event, the book has another hero; Oskar. Throughout the book he is looking for something to save him, to give him answers, but at the end of the book he does that for another person. By searching for owner of the key, he is an incredible blessing to the life of Mr. Black, even though the search didn’t end as Oskar had planned. His actions became selfless as he turned over the key, his connection to his father, to another man so that he could instead somehow reconcile with his dead father. His life had been slowly unraveling, but Oskar helped him reverse that with his childish charm and open mind. To Mr. Black, who had given up on finding the key, Oskar had attained heroic status. This book made me, again, reconsider how I define a hero; a hero is someone who selflessly gives another their best chance at living, or improves the way of life of another and yet remains humble.

It seems that the more I see and experience, the more my definition of a hero continues to develop. Still, I believe it is a term that is spoken much too often. For many, it has lost meaning and the full depth behind the word has been forgotten. I challenge you not to forget. Take some time out of your day to marvel in the wonder of the word. Hero is not a term to be used lightly, it is not a term to describe a fictional character who runs around in tights saving other fictional characters, it is not Enrique Iglesias whispering in your ear. Instead, think about the people you know who have made your life better, who are humble, who are courageous, who are selfless. Create your own definition of a hero, and if you are ever lucky enough to get the chance, be that person for someone else.

Alana