Miss Oprah Winfrey

I was not a regular, daily watcher of the Oprah Winfrey show. She has been on air since before I was born so she is an icon and a role model to my generation and the generations surrounding me. If I was ever home at 4pm on a week day during high school I would watch, depending on who she had on her show that day. Through college it was the same. I didn't have to watch but sometimes it was a nice background noise to my homework, studying, or chatting with friends. I watched Oprah rarely. I am not one of those people whose life has changed because of Oprah. I have not been touched personally by something she has done, though I do admire her strength and power across our world. With all the free time have had lately I decided to watch her farewell show today. Oprah is a true inspiration. As an aspiring teacher it is amazing to watch the things she has done for those less fortunate around the world by allowing them to have the education that they deserve. I believe she has provided schooling for over 64,000 children worldwide. Some people do not realize that an education is not something we should take for granted. For the stay-at-home moms that watched her show every day, or the retired professionals that enjoyed their time in front of the television every day, for the adolescents that were home sick or had a snow day and were able to watch Oprah, perhaps she captured them and changed their lives. She did talk today about gratitude journals, which I guess meant that over the years she has taught people to be grateful and more appreciative of the little things, or big things. This is something that I try to do everyday and that sometimes I am successful at. There are other times however, when my emotions get the best of me and I become cranky or upset. It's easy to take everything we have for granted. I want to try and "do good." I've been thinking about doing some volunteer work this summer while I have some free time. My life is pretty damn good and I should share it with other people and help them in ways that I can. I don't want these aspirations of mine to fade. So, maybe watching Oprah's farewell show this afternoon did change me, maybe she has inspired me to do good deeds. She had some wonderfully powerful things to say to her audience and her viewers today and maybe, they were listening.