Personality of the Day: Helen Keller

There are many people in the world that have left a great legacy behind. Personality of the Day is a series that focuses on such incredible personalities whose lives show a perfect mixture of daring, skill and purpose. These are the individuals who did not just take any direction, but they created their own and shaped a society based on their ideas and actions.

Their paths have been full of struggles, but their ideas and will to change things is what transformed the challenges to growth and possibilities. They educate us that it is not about personal accomplishment, but rather by giving back to society.

Today, we will be talking about Helen Keller as she managed to transform her struggles into a major asset and become a symbol of courage, learning, and determination.

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Early Life and Education

Helen Keller was born on 27 th June in 1880 in Tuscumbia, Alabama, United States. She was born to Arthur H. Keller and his wife Katherine Adams Keller. Helen was a normal child during her birth but at the age of only 19 months, she had an illness that made her deaf and blind.

This abrupt turn of events made communication very difficult for her. She was usually frustrated by the fact that she was not able to communicate with other people. She didn’t get any kind of formal education till the age of 7 and gradually developed a system where she would communicate with her family by feeling their facial expressions. 

Her mother took the matter into her own hands and reached out to experts and even Alexander Graham Bell as he was involved in helping deaf children at that time. All this took a new twist when her teacher Anne Sullivan was brought into her life. 

Unconventional techniques were used by Anne Sullivan in teaching Helen through spelling words to her hand. 

Since then, the learning process for Helen started. She joined Perkins School in Boston where she learnt Braille and started writing with a special typewriter. 

According to Women’s History Organisation, Helen later went to New York where she improved her speaking abilities. In 1904, Helen graduated from Radcliffe College 

Career and Achievements

Helen Keller did not allow her disability to hinder her in becoming an achiever. She turned into a famous writer, orator and activist. She authored a number of books, among which is her autobiography The Story of My Life and this work has inspired millions of people worldwide.

She toured a wide variety of countries and gave speeches where she created awareness about the rights of people with disabilities. She was quite convinced that all people should have access to education and equality.

Helen also participated in organizations such as the American Foundation for the Blind where she spent her life trying to make the lives of people with disabilities better. Her works contributed to raising awareness about the aspects that were used to be overlooked at her era.

The American Foundation for the Blind mentions: “Helen Keller worked for the American Foundation for the Blind for more than 40 years.”

Personality and Influence

Helen Keller was characterized by her powerful spirit, curiosity and benevolence. She really wanted to know and do something. She was an inspiration to people all over the world due to the fact that she stayed hopeful even when she faced a difficult situation.

She was not only a writer but a spokesperson to the masses that were not able to speak. Through her life, she transformed the perception of society towards the issue of disability and ability.

She demonstrated that the real power is courage and the desire to continue moving on.

Awards and Honours

Quotes By Helen Keller

Here are some quotes by Helen Keller: 

• “When one door of happiness closes, another opens; but often we look so long at the closed door that we do not see the one which has been opened for us.”

• “I would rather walk with a friend in the dark, than alone in the light.”

• “The best and most beautiful things in the world cannot be seen or even touched. They must be felt with the heart”

• “Life is either a daring adventure or nothing at all.”

• “Although the world is full of suffering, it is full also of the overcoming of it.”

The life of Helen Keller is a good example which shows that difficulties are not something that characterizes us. It is the way in which we rise above them is really important. 

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