Denzel's presence in the business of acting and a
spokesman has positively impacted many people. He is the type of person you can
call your ideal role model. From obstacles to his education and
with the support from others he has achieved his goals. As of today his movies
have such passion and a message to send to the audience, which makes it more
interesting to know more about him and where he came from. Denzel’s wealth of
support from his mentors has brought him to share his story to create a
positive difference into people’s lives. A
Hand to Guide Me (2006) by The Boys and Girls Club of America is an
inspirational book that introduces different successful people that have had
encouragement from someone positive and proved themselves to have strong
traits. Within the pages there are many valuable insights into his education,
struggles, and inspirations.
According to the
book Denzel began to see the values
of focus, goals, morals, and being a man at the Boys Club. He looked up to a
man named Billy Thomas, the man that basically ran the club, and showed Denzel
the true meaning of education. He met another man name Jack Coleman, which was
another inspirational character in his life. Mr. Coleman had his own barber
shop which Denzel worked for him around the age of 12. This is where his first
lesson of acting began, in the teaching of storytelling through the customers. His
mother and father were encouraging him to go to school and to strive for a
better life. His mother expected him to go to college and he felt that he
should have met those expectations.
Denzel
writes his own story and the challenges he faced as a child growing up into his
successful career. However, he mentions how he had a difficult time with school
and making a final decision on what he wanted to become, whether it was to
become a doctor, lawyer, or journalist. Midway through junior year he left Fordham
College and took some time to figure out what he really wanted to do. Not to
mention he was also in academic probation, but with this, he still didn’t give
up. He ends up discovering his strengths and talents from people that were a
strong encouragement such as his parents, his teacher, Jack Coleman, Billy
Thorns and lots more. With this he is able to approach his true passion and his
dream career as an actor. He finishes up by going to American Conservatory
Theater with the help of Robinson Stone (English Teacher from Fordham) by
writing a recommendation letter to the director. Denzel mentions how an
individual can have such a powerful role in someone else’s life. (p.272)
“Children
have never been very good at listening to their elders, but they have never
failed to imitate them” a quote by the novelist James Baldwin, that emphasizes
Denzel’s desire to be like Billy Thorns and even write like him. Just like he
wanted to imitate Billy’s ways, I continue to want to do the same with the
program I currently attend once in a while to keep on track. This similar program
is created by OIC, which stands for Opportunities Industrialization Center.
They’re a non-profit organization that is committed to meeting the needs of its
youth and adult population. Here is where I learn to get closer to a
professional feeling of work and life itself, from how to approach a situation
to how to solve it and learn from it, comparable to the Boys Club. This reminds
me how important it is to stay academically engaged in groups and clubs because
it becomes the center of everything, its focus, and desire to pursue it. This
is a great tip for those that need a little help on motivation and finding a
support system to guide their successful future lives.
A
man that captures such image as an individual that strives for more than he
struggled. A motivation that can give a person some sort of hope and align to
what they are capable of doing, such as “anything is possible as long as you
put your mind to it”. This man has shown me and many others that motivation
doesn’t necessarily need to come from yourself, but you can find it in others
as well. His push from his mother helped guide him toward college, letting him
meet a teacher whose recommendation basically led to his acting career. Also,
if he had not struggled through school we may know Denzel not as a famous actor
but as a defensive lawyer or a local columnist. His struggles and support
created the inspirational man we know today as Denzel Washington.
References
Washington,
D. (2006). A Hand to Guide Me: Legends and Leaders Celebrate the People Who
Shaped Their Lives, p.8-25 Des Moines, Iowa: Meredith Books.
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