Overcoming Poverty By Oprah Winfrey Essay

Success is the ultimate goal that is achieved in society, the culmination of time, effort, luck and the feeling of a job well done. No one wants to be deemed as unsuccessful even geniuses have been known to underachieve if their intelligence fails to match a great work ethic. But other factors come into play as well to help those who have ascended in a field reach their potential. Some people in our society that lack the hidden advantages afforded to the wealthy, looking to a proper education in order to bridge the gap between, what society deems as success and failure in turn presents its own interesting challenges. Being smart enough to excel in higher education is already a difficult challenge, but to members of society that come from low …show more content…
Normally the stories of those that escape poverty are told of athletes and entertainers these stories should not be dismissed, but the majority of these stories barely explain the importance of education. Although Oprah Winfrey can be considered an entertainer as well her story is very powerful one that emphasis the importance of education. Winfrey who was born to a teenage mother in Kosciusko, Mississippi suffered through poverty the majority of her childhood experiencing the perils of parental neglect as well. Her story is similar to many other children whose parents work long hours leaving their children on their own to fend for themselves. While she was ridiculed by her classmates for being extremely poor Winfrey used the negativity she experienced to work harder and eventually received a fulltime scholarship from Tennessee State University after winning the ELKS Oratorical Contest. Winfrey used this opportunity to graduate with a degree in communications that eventually lead to a billion dollar Media Empire, which she has used to give back to the less fortunate all over the world including the building of girl’s academies in South