Heroes

     Heroes. There are so many ways one can define a hero. For Efren Peñaflorida, everyone has a hidden hero within them; it's just waiting to be unleashed. CNN Hero of the Year is an award given to individuals who have made extraordinary contributions to the community, and Efren Peñaflorida was one of the ten individuals who were given this award in the year of 2009. Every Saturday, Efren and his companions would bring the pushcart classroom to reach out and to teach the underprivileged children counting, reading, hygiene, and more. The reason why Efren did this is he was once one of those underprivileged children. They join gangs and take in drugs to try to find meaning to their lives. Efren hopes to change this by providing them education. He said in his speech that one must learn to embrace education, and in the future, it will embrace us back. Education can help these kids have a future, so Efren felt the need to educate them. He also said that he is not the only hero. Every selfless, hardworking volunteer, and every persevering child deserves the right to be recognized as a hero as well.

     This message was created by CNN, a famous American television channel. The video utilizes two rhetorical appeals in the video, namely ethos and pathos. I wanted to watch this video because I knew that CNN is a credible source. It has been a famous television channel ever since the 1980's. This shows ethos, or appeal to credibility. The video also uses pathos, or appeal to emotion because it showed pictures of the underprivileged children to spark the audience's emotions. 

     I agree with the video that education is important for us to have a better future. Education can help us understand the things around us. Other people might say that literates can't live better lives than illiterates since not all literates get jobs, but being an illiterate is very depressing. I once read an article in ENGLCOM class describing the lives of illiterates. They can't read information from packaged food, or understand road signs. They don't even have the courage to visit their children's teachers in fear that they will humiliate their children. Basically, they can't do anything. Having a little, even just basic education can help these children live better. Also, one of the messages in the video is anyone can be a hero if they are willing to. Through this video, I learned that being a hero is not literally saving people's lives like Superman, but having the heart to help people no matter their age, race, or social status. Yes, some might argue that famous scientists are the heroes, for without them, we will not have the technology that will make our lives easier, but the heroes awarded by CNN are not the ones who've made great inventions, or the ones who've donated an amount of money to help a business grow, but the ones who tried their best to help those who were in need despite the fact that they aren't very wealthy. 

     The values that were presented in this video are love, education, and heroism. Efren didn't treat those children as mere attendees of a program, but like his children. In the way he looks at the children and the way he treats the children, I can see love. Every time a children sings, from the way he responds, I can see that he is not just there for the purpose of volunteering, but really to educate those kids, and that's where education comes in. He believes that education is important for those kids, so he tries his best to give them the best education he can give. Lastly, all his actions depicts what a hero should be like.

     I believe this message is being sent to encourage the underprivileged children that being an underprivileged child does not mean the end of the world. As long as they persevere, there will always be hope. There can always be a future. Also, this video also serves as an inspiration to everyone around the world to be a hero, to help those who are in need, to show them love, and to show them when there's a will, there's always a way.

Sources:

CNN. (2010, March 8). Heroes Tribute: Efren Penaflorida. Retrieved September 228, 2014, from YouTube: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=h3YpbFjX9ps

Pushcart educator named CNN Hero of the Year. (2009, November 22). Retrieved October 1, 2014, from CNN: http://edition.cnn.com/2009/LIVING/11/16/cnnheroes.tribute.show/