Empowering speech brings more passion to life
Have you ever wondered what it would feel like to meet your favorite celebrity? Or someone of high importance in society? Many would imagine it as the happiest moment of their lives, and they’d be jumping up and down, crazed with excitement. But I can honestly say, none of this applied to me. I wasn’t even fully conscious of what was happening; I was so nervous that I didn’t realize my idol, my inspiration, and my role model, Eric Schlosser, was sitting across the table from me. It all felt surreal, like I was in a dream. I remember thinking to myself, this isn’t really happening. I didn’t believe it, I had to prove to myself that I was really there next to him. As crazy as this may seem, I almost felt like I was going to pass out from how nervous I was. But finally, I worked up the courage to compliment his book. I noted how every single word linked to the sentence, to the paragraph, to the chapter, and to the book as a whole. He showed appreciation of my comments but didn’t seem too self-centered, which made the moment even more surreal.
Reading “Fast Food Nation,” I felt as though Schlosser was speaking directly to me, like I was meant to read his book and be inspired by it. Although at first I might not have realized it, this is the biggest motivation I’ve had in my life for a long time. There are teachers that tell me to do my personal best and go above and beyond, but none of them had touched me like Schlosser did. He made me feel empowered, like I could really achieve anything I wanted. And even though the subject of the book was fast food, I applied it to life in general.
Through the reading of his book I gained knowledge. Knowledge of the corrupt ongoings in fast food. Schlosser shed a new side of America. One that is too ugly to be willingly revealed. The fact that he had the courage to write a whole book on the atrocities fast food is causing to America motivates me to want to do the same. Not necessarily on fast food, but I want to expose any harm society is causing. No matter how big and corrupt the fast food nation is, no matter how tough and tiring the obstacles may be, you can always fight. There’s only one requirement to this, and that is having will power. As cheesy as it may sound, if you believe in yourself you can do it.
For the longest time, I had felt that I could never overcome obstacles in my life. I felt that not only my personal problems, but the problems around me, were too tough to tackle. But after reading Schlosser’s book, I no longer feel the same. He has inspired me to take on any challenge and the most rigorous courses offered in school. He has motivated me to continue and expand my education.
At the dinner Schlosser spoke of the passion he felt for exposing fast food. Seeing that motivation instilled passion in me. Passion to follow my dreams and persevere.
In his book he gave the example of various fast food entrepreneurs like Ray Kroc, Carl N. Karcher, and J.R. Simplot. When he told their stories, he spoke of their never ending perseverance and how it was that they made it to the top. Sometimes that’s all most people need, a reminder that anything is possible.
Meeting him was the climax of my journey to success. He had motivated me through his book, and meeting him in person only reassured me that I could succeed.
Thanks to him I am one step closer to knowledge, one step closer to freedom, and one step closer to power.
