Biography of Michael Oher Essay

Michael Oher was born in 1986 on May 28 in Memphis, Tennessee. He had a lot of siblings and more kept coming. When Michael was a kid, his father was barely in his life and later when Michael was in high school, his father was killed. In the beginning of the book Michael said one of the first lessons he learned was "'You're not poor if you know where your next meal is coming from." There were people who had food and there were people who had to scrounge and Michael said that normally he had to scrounge. The Ohers moved a lot because they would get evicted or something else would happen. They lived in projects and wouldn't stay long. Projects are neighborhoods with houses/appartments for poor people and it was lower rent. Michael was a pretty quiet boy and he wanted to get out of the ghetto. When he was seven years old, he watched the play-offs and saw Michael Jordan and the Bulls win the championship. His first love was basketball and that was what he saw himself doing in the future. His mother was addicted to crack and cocaine. Michael's mom wasn't always on drugs, but a lot of times when Michael's mom would get the check in the beginning of the month, they would have money and that was the best part of the month for everyone, but a few days in, the kids would come home from school and the door would be locked Their mom would be buying drugs. The kids would have to bum food, sleep at different people's houses, and stick together. Michael loved his family so much, but wanted to get out of the 'hood and live a better life. Many people helped him, but at the time he didn't think anyone loved him. Children's Services Department wanted to help the Oher family, but at the time, Michael thought that they wanted to split the family up. The service took the kids and put them in foster families and they move to different families. Michael was with his brother Carlos in the foster system until he was taken to St. Joseph's, where they "studied" his emotions. They thought that his smile was a smirk and that when he was quiet at the supervised family visits that he had anger inside and didn't know how to let it out. Michael Oher said that his smile is a smirk and that he wanted to see his family play together and be together because it made him sad because they would be split up again and he wanted the memory of them together.
Michael Oher dreamed to play a sport for his future and he saw two types of people with the same dream. There were those who just wished for it and they would get in trouble or end up in gangs, then there were those who worked for it. Michael didn't want a bad life and was going to work for it.