Helen Keller’. When you hear the name, I know that you are reminded of the determined woman who struggled hard and reached her life-long goal. Fortunately I got an opportunity to read Keller’s Autobiography, The Story of My Life. By reading that book I realized that Keller is a real hero to today’s young minds, especially for those who are struggling in life. The message she conveyed through her book is to never quit when we face  challenges in life  and to move forward with a positive attitude . There is a lesson in every nook and cranny of this book which is inspiring and makes curiosity bubble inside us.

Helen Adams Keller was born on 27 June 1880. At the age of three, Helen suffered from a disease, probably meningitis or scarlet fever, which left her blind and deaf. Her whole life took a turn from that tragic event. As years passed, Helen made ways to communicate with her family and her childhood companion, Martha Washington. Helen had over sixty home signs by which she passed messages with her family.

The next important event in Helen’s life was when her teacher, Miss Anne Sullivan came to her life. Miss Sullivan started by spelling the names of items into Helen’s hand. Keller recalls the first word her teacher spelled to her is, d-o-l-l. Learning at least five words a day, Helen progressed and improved her vocabulary. Slowly she realized that everything has a name. In the month of May 1888, Helen started attending classes from the Perkins Institute for the Blind. After that Helen went to Wright-Humason School for the Deaf and then to Horace Mann School for the deaf to learn from Sarah Fuller. From that school she learned to speak in connected words and sentences using the Tadoma method. In 1896, Keller went to The Cambridge School for Young Ladies. Keller was the first blind and deaf person to earn a Bachelor of Arts Degree. She soon became a famous speaker, author and a political activist.

Helen Keller inspired me because, in her world of darkness and silence, when nothing seemed possible, she strived hard and accomplished her dream of learning to speak. Through her books she tried to convey the most important human values to succeed in life  like will power, determination, courage etc. Her life is certainly an eventful one which not only inspires us but also teaches us how to overcome all the obstacles that life puts on our path.

And as Keller herself says, ‘Life is either a daring adventure or nothing at all’.

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