To begin, here are the words of Helen Keller, “Life is a succession of lessons which must be lived to be understood” .  On August 17, 2005, I stood waiting for the school bus with a yellow Batman shirt, black shorts, and dark brown sandals next to complete strangers around my age at a daycare known as KidZone.  My Mom, Angela, dropped me off that morning because I was starting Kindergarten.  When I arrived as a Kindergartener at Saint Joseph School for the first time, I found it difficult to handle not knowing a single person in that school.  Even though I had lived in Olney, Illinois my whole life, it was a whole new atmosphere to me, so it made me have to become acquainted with the people around me.  Now in correlation to Helen Keller having to overcome the obstacle of not being able to communicate, I too had to overcome my obstacle of not knowing anybody when I started KidZone and Kindergarten in 2005 at age five.
The obstacle Helen Keller had to overcome throughout her life was not being able to communicate.  Helen’s obstacle started when she became blind and deaf from an illness before even turning two years old.  Helen’s parents tried to help Helen overcome that obstacle by hiring Annie Sullivan from Massachusetts to teach Helen a variety of topics, including communication.  While Annie was in Alabama teaching Helen, she was able to show Helen trust in others, obedience towards everything that surrounded Helen, and language to let Helen know everything in the world had meaning.  With the help of Annie Sullivan, Helen Keller was able to overcome the obstacle of not being able to communicate, so she could live freely again with several open gates of opportunity, which led to a successful life for Helen.
In relation to Helen Keller, I also had an obstacle in my life that I had to face and overcome.  The obstacle I had to overcome was not knowing anyone when I started Kindergarten at Saint Joseph School and KidZone at only five years old.  To overcome this obstacle, I had to force myself into introducing myself to every person that I met that day.  The process took several months and even years to become acquainted with people I did not engage in a conversation with on the first day.  But in the end, the people I met and became friends with have helped me become a more knowing person, as far as showing the great times we as people can experience in life that helps us become the person we are planned to be in the future.
Even though our obstacles are very different from each other, Helen and I share a few similarities between the two.  A similarity Helen and I had that was involved in overcoming our individual obstacles was determination to become like the rest of the people in the world along with showing that happiness lied ahead.  Another similarity Helen and I share with our obstacles is that we were both lost when the obstacle lied in front of us, but were found in the world once the obstacles were put behind us.  A third similarity Helen and I shared is that the bright light was found at the end of the dark tunnel by showing an expanded path in our own personal journeys after the obstacle was overcome.  All of these similarities Helen and I have represent that no matter how different any of our personal struggles can be, they all relate back to just how human our lives really are.
While Helen had the challenge of not being able to communicate, and I had the struggle of meeting people on my first day of Kindergarten, the obstacles were both overcame with full-force.  With learning Helen’s experience of being unable to communicate due to being blind and deaf, I learned that nothing in this world is impossible if I try with all of my heart to succeed.  Also, in my experience, I learned that I cannot be afraid to try something that I know will help me down the road.  Both of these experiences have taught me to not hold back myself from what I should do and to keep moving towards the brighter light until the day that I have reached it, so that all of my goals in life have been completed.  To conclude, here are the words from President John Fitzgerald Kennedy, “Change is the law of life.  And those who look only to the past or present are certain to miss the future”.