My Speech
So, we had to give a commemorative speech today about someone... and they couldn't be related to us. I had NO clue who I was gonna do my on until finally a light turned on in my head and decided to do it on J.K. Rowling. Just thought I'd share it with you:
I’m pretty sure it’s safe to say that we all daydream-about our own lives, and our own worlds. And I’m pretty sure they’re full of “what-if”s and “I wonder”s that we can only imagine. Some of us dream about being rich, some of us imagine about life in outer space, and some of us let our minds wander about thinking of life at some other time or place.
One very imaginative, creative, and brilliant woman created a world in her mind full of magic and spells. A world where she makes us wonder what it would be like to live. A world where an ordinary boy can actually be an extraordinary wizard.
I was quite the skeptic for quite a number of years as critics and even my mom raved about Harry Potter. I am not a reader by any standards, but I finally gave in right before the first movie came out. Surprisingly I only took about a week and a half to finish all four books.
But I’m not here to talk about the books or the movies. I’m here to talk to the writer. J.K. Rowling. Not only have her books fascinated me, but her life struggles and successes have inspired me.
Joanne Kathleen Rowling (J.K. for short) started writing at the ripe age of six, and hasn’t put the pen down since. Like us, she attended college and eventually graduated from the Exeter University in England.
In 1993 Ms. Rowling was married and had a baby girl-life seemed to be going good. But nearly two years later, she was divorced and living on public assistance in a tiny flat in Edinburgh Scotland. During her daughter’s naps, this single mom wrote the beginnings of Harry Potter and the Philosopher’s stone on napkins and scraps of paper in a local café.
After finally finishing her first manuscript, Ms. Rowling tried to get it published, going from one publisher to the next, only to get rejected. She never gave up and kept trekking on. Her persistence finally paid off when Harry Potter and the Philosopher’s Stone was published in 1997.
Four additional books, two motion pictures, and six years later, J.K. Rowling has been honored with very many awards including British Book Awards Children’s Book of the Year. Ms. Rowling has received a special certificate for being a three-year winner of the Nestle Smarties Book Prize. She has also been named an officer of the Order of the British Empire.
Ms. Rowling’s courage and persistence can only be admired. Her life-story is superior to many fiction novels-she was able to have her own dream world come to be and shared with the entire planet. So, whether or not you enjoy stories of flying broomsticks and mail delivered by owls, remember this: J.K. Rowling is an inspiration to all of us who dare to dream.
I’m pretty sure it’s safe to say that we all daydream-about our own lives, and our own worlds. And I’m pretty sure they’re full of “what-if”s and “I wonder”s that we can only imagine. Some of us dream about being rich, some of us imagine about life in outer space, and some of us let our minds wander about thinking of life at some other time or place.
One very imaginative, creative, and brilliant woman created a world in her mind full of magic and spells. A world where she makes us wonder what it would be like to live. A world where an ordinary boy can actually be an extraordinary wizard.
I was quite the skeptic for quite a number of years as critics and even my mom raved about Harry Potter. I am not a reader by any standards, but I finally gave in right before the first movie came out. Surprisingly I only took about a week and a half to finish all four books.
But I’m not here to talk about the books or the movies. I’m here to talk to the writer. J.K. Rowling. Not only have her books fascinated me, but her life struggles and successes have inspired me.
Joanne Kathleen Rowling (J.K. for short) started writing at the ripe age of six, and hasn’t put the pen down since. Like us, she attended college and eventually graduated from the Exeter University in England.
In 1993 Ms. Rowling was married and had a baby girl-life seemed to be going good. But nearly two years later, she was divorced and living on public assistance in a tiny flat in Edinburgh Scotland. During her daughter’s naps, this single mom wrote the beginnings of Harry Potter and the Philosopher’s stone on napkins and scraps of paper in a local café.
After finally finishing her first manuscript, Ms. Rowling tried to get it published, going from one publisher to the next, only to get rejected. She never gave up and kept trekking on. Her persistence finally paid off when Harry Potter and the Philosopher’s Stone was published in 1997.
Four additional books, two motion pictures, and six years later, J.K. Rowling has been honored with very many awards including British Book Awards Children’s Book of the Year. Ms. Rowling has received a special certificate for being a three-year winner of the Nestle Smarties Book Prize. She has also been named an officer of the Order of the British Empire.
Ms. Rowling’s courage and persistence can only be admired. Her life-story is superior to many fiction novels-she was able to have her own dream world come to be and shared with the entire planet. So, whether or not you enjoy stories of flying broomsticks and mail delivered by owls, remember this: J.K. Rowling is an inspiration to all of us who dare to dream.