Katherine Johnson by Kayla G.

Have you ever faced adversity? It is normal for everyone to face adversity at one point in life. People overcame adversity in different ways. Some people take their adversity and use it as encouragement to keep them going, to keep them strong! One person who faced adversity is Katherine Johnson since she overcame it in her younger years. She also overcame racism and sexism!

To begin with, Katherine was born in 1918 in White Sulphur Springs, West Virginia. Katherine always loved mathematics. She loved to count things when she was a little girl. In the source titled “Who is Katherine Johnson “by NASA, the author states that “she counted everything, from the number of steps she took to get to the road, to the number of forks and plates she washed when doing dishes. Katherine loved to learn new things and go to school. She was always very excited to attend school, and that was amazing. By the early age of 10, she was enrolled in high school, and by the age of 15 she was in college. She was very intelligent.

In addition, Katherine faced racism because she was an African American woman working in a white male field. This field was the American space program. Everybody thought very little of her. There were signs over the bathroom that said “colored.” She would not ignore them, and she didn’t cower. According to the website csmonitor.com, she figured out how to still get what she wanted, even though she was discriminated against. Katherine was very determined and strong.

Lastly, Katherine also went through sexism!! Women were not allowed to attend meetings with the male engineers and scientists. The source “The Atlantic – The Legacy of a Hidden Figure” states that “Women don’t go to the meetings, her male colleagues told her.” That was unfair and shouldn’t have been allowed at NASA. After Katherine asked multiple times to be allowed in the meetings, the engineers were tired. So, they relented and allowed her to attend. She overcame sexism of her job by never giving up, striving to be let into meetings and having people treat her with equality. 

Overall, Katherine went through a lot of adversity in her life. Katherine took the adversity and used it to make her stronger! She faced racism, and sexism while working at NASA. It was a struggle for her being an African American woman in a white man’s field.

Jesse Owens by Jaedan R.

Have you ever wondered what adversities people had to go through to make it where they are or where they were? Overcoming adversities is something that many people may be going through or have gone through. In fact people you might know may be going through them right now or have gone through them already. There are certain people who use the adversities that they went through to push for a better life. One person that comes to mind for me is Jesse Owens, a man who went through the adversities of slavery and segregation.

To start off, Jesse Owens went through a rough childhood. To begin things, “https://www.biography.com/athlete/jesse-owens“ states that he was a son of sharecropper and grandson of a slave. He was a child growing up into a rough circumstance which gave him few chances to succeed. At 7 years old Jesse would pick up 100 pounds of cotton daily; he had done all of this so he could bring food to his family. This shows that even with his tough childhood he still found a way to support his family even with the adversities he had to go through. On top of all this, he was a weak child who had been fighting pneumonia and bronchial congestion. Even with these disorders he still fought for better opportunities and a better life for himself and his family. Regardless of all this, Jesse still pushed through for success.

After his rough early life, Jesse had to face unfair treatment at the Olympics. As stated by “Treatment at Olympics,” Hitler criticized the U.S. for including athletes of color. This is one of the things Jesse faced at the Olympics because of his color. Even after all this, Jesse had won four Olympic gold medals. Besides being discriminated for the color of his skin, Jesse used this experience to push through and succeed. However, even after succeeding, Hitler refused to shake Jesse’s hand despite him winning 4 gold Olympic medals. This expands what Jesse went through even from his childhood to his time at the Olympics. Evens through all his adversities, Jesse did not let it get to him and kept pushing and using his adversities to fuel his success.

Lastly, Jesse had to go through segregation in the United States. “Segregation in U.S” states that after the Olympics Jesse had few people offer him a job. What this shows is that even after succeeding in the Olympics by winning four gold medals, he was still discriminated by people. Jesse also faced segregation, discrimination, and aggression. This shows more of the treatment Jesse went through even in the U.S. Despite all of this, Jesse was resourceful and raced cars and horses; he also played for the Harlem Globetrotters, set up a public relations and marketing business, and became a public speaker. Even through his struggles and adversities, Jesse had always found a way to use it as fuel for a better life. Overall, Jesse was a great athlete who fought for a better life.

To finish off my ideas, Jesse Owen’s fought his way to make his life better even with his adversities. During his early childhood he was met with slavery, poverty, and his physical disorders. His time in the Olympics was introduced with racism towards him due to his skin color. During his stay back home in the U.S he encountered discrimination, segregation, and aggression; even with all of this he created opportunities to make his life better. As a man with a tough childhood, rough treatment at the Olympics, and unfair treatment where he lived in the U.S, Jesse Owens strove to be a great athlete and used his tough adversities to succeed and allow him to have a better life.