Oprah Winfrey

When you hear the name “Oprah Winfrey”, several words come to mind. Successful. Generous. Empowering. Influential. Oprah Winfrey has had a notable impact on the lives of many people. Since she was born into a poor family in Mississippi, many people would have said that her opportunities would be limited. Clearly, she proved them wrong and has become one of the most influential people in the world.

Oprah Winfrey was raised by a single teenage mother in an inner-city neighborhood. She was originally named “Orpah” after the biblical character, but it was often mispronounced, producing the name, Oprah. For the first six years of her life, Winfrey lived with her maternal grandmother in a family so poor, that she was often forced to wear dresses made of potato sacks because of the lack of money. Her maternal grandmother taught her how to read before she was three years old, and although she was made fun of for the way she dressed, members of her church admired her and even gave her the nickname “The Preacher” for her ability to memorize and recite bible verses. When she was six years old, she moved to another inner-city neighborhood, Milwaukee, Wisconsin, and her younger half sister, Patricia, was born.

At a young age, Winfrey was molested multiple times by a family members and family friends. At the age of fourteen, she became pregnant, but her son was born prematurely and died soon after his birth. After years of abuse, she ran away from home. She was then sent to live with her biological father in Nashville, Tennessee, where he fathered her in a strict but encouraging manner, making her education her highest priority. Under her father’s parenting, Winfrey became an honors student and found that she excelled in speaking. She won an oratory contest, which rewarded her with a full scholarship to Tennessee State University, a historically African-American institution.

While in high school, she was noticed by the local radio station WVOL, which hired her to work part-time. She was later recruited to be a co-host on the local talk show, People are Talking. When she relocated to host AM Chicago, she changed the show’s rating from last place to the highest rated show in Chicago. She was then offered a deal to have her own television show, The Oprah Winfrey Show, and was an instant success.

Winfrey did multiple interviews with celebrities and starred is a few movies and television show episodes. All the while, her television show continued to become more and more popular.

Oprah became a millionaire at age 32 when her talk show first went national. In 2000, she was believed to be the wealthiest African American of the 20th century with a net worth of $800 million. Forbes’ international rich list listed Winfrey as the world’s only African American billionaire from 2004 to 2006 and as the first African American woman billionaire in world history. She has also been named as arguably the most influential and powerful woman in the world.

Not only does Oprah have an exceptionally inspirational story, but also she chooses to give back and share her success to others who are in the position that she once was. Since she was once poor, she understands the plight of many of the people who live in poverty and she chooses to share her wealth and help everyone to alleviate their suffering. For this reason, I think that she is an incredibly admirable person. I believe that people should aspire to be like her, not because she is successful, but because she is known to be an extremely generous person.

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