The next person I would like to introduce you to is Walt Disney, the great American film producers, entrepreneur, voice actor, and animator.

Mr. Disney is seen as a pioneer of American animation and the industry as a whole, he introduced many new developments in cartoon production. He also holds the record for the most Academy Awards (22 Wins and 59 nominations) earned by an individual film producer, along with an Emmy, two Golden Globes, and many other awards. He was born in Chicago in 1901, and then grew up in Missouri where he grew a love of drawing, he later moved to California with his brother Roy and started Disney Brothers Studio. He found his first big success in his now super famous character Mickey Mouse which he later developed and animated. As his success grew he introduced many news things to his films as time went on including full-color, synchronized sound, and feature length cartoons. With these techniques he was able to create many of our own childhood favorites Snow White and the Seven Dwarfs, Dumbo, Pinocchio, Bambi, Fantasia, Cinderella, and Mary Poppins. When the 1950s came around Disney wanted to expand into the amusement park industry, he then opened Disneyland in 1955. To fund the creation of this park he diversified the company into television programs as well, including Micky Mouse Club and Walt Disney’s Disneyland. Along with helping out in the planning of the 1960 Winter Olympics, Moscow fair, and New York’s World Fair. Mr. Disney continued to expand then bringing this magic kingdom to Florida and started construction Walt Disney World in 1965. Sadly, he would never see his new kingdom finished dying of lung cancer in 1966. Walt Disney truly had an amazing life building an empire that still stands and thrives to this day. On the inside he was a shy and insecure man in private but was able to adopt a warm and outgoing public persona. In high school he struggled a lot due to his learning disability but worked hard which he was known for and was able to overcome his struggles and succeed.

Like Steve Jobs and Steven Spielberg is it just so amazing to think how much that one man can change people’s lives. I think every single person at Penn State has had some form of impact from these great men that were able to overcome personal struggles and rise up to have such positive impacts on the lives of millions. Walt Disney remains a very important figure in the history of film and American culture as a whole and his company to this day still fills the minds of children and adults alike with imagination that inspires every last one of us.

The next person I would like to introduce you to is Anderson Hays Cooper, American journalist, author, and television personality. Primarily known for this work as a primary anchor of CNN and correspondent for 60 Minutes.

Anderson was born in 1967 in New York City, he was the youngest son of his father Wyatt Cooper and mother Gloria Vanderbilt. He has had media experience since he was young, he was photographed as a baby for Harper’s Bazaar and also appeared on The Tonight Show with his mother when he was only 3 years old. Age 9 he appeared on To Tell the Truth, and from 10-13 models for Macy’s, Calvin Klein, and Ralph Lauren. His family life was frayed when his father died in 1978 and his older brother Carter committed suicide in 1988, he cites his brother’s death for sparking his interest in journalism. “Loss is a theme that I think a lot about, and it’s something in my work that I dwell on. I think when you experience any kind of loss, especially the kind I did, you have questions about survival: Why do some people thrive in situations that others can’t tolerate? Would I be able to survive and get on in the world on my own?”. Anderson grew up in a home where reading and writing were seen as very important, he did struggle as a child with his Dyslexia mixing up letters but he got a special reading instructor who helped him so much. He went to Dalton for high school and even graduated early and spent time in Africa before attending Yale studying political science. It is truly amazing what Anderson had been able to accomplish in his live and overcoming his learning disability. One thing Anderson and I have in common is for years we tried to hide our Dyslexia from people and just act as if we were normal smart kids, at the end of the day we have to be proud of who we are and what makes us different.

This brings up the big importance of improving access to help for people with learning disabilities, Anderson said himself that he was very lucky to go to his school and be able to get the help he needed. When it comes special education of the public-school system has truly failed to help children around the country overcome their disabilities. I know this first hand from my experience with special-ed and I was only able to find the help I needed by going to private school. I believe that this is an issue that really needs to be looked at in the education systems of every state.

The next person I would like to introduce to you in Steven Allan Spielberg the greatest and most popular American filmmakers in history and is considered by many as one of the pioneers of the New Hollywood era.

Steve, one of American films most successful filmmakers and is praised by million for his talent of directing and has won the Academy Award for best director not once but twice. His films are also some of the most successful and profitable movies in history. He himself has a net worth of over $3 billion. Stevens life is truly remarkable how much one poor boy from Cincinnati, Ohio was able to grow up and accomplish in one lifetime and still going strong. He was only diagnosed with Dyslexia a few years ago, as a child there was no real help from children which difficulty’s reading he didn’t learn to read for two years after his classmates. He was bullied a lot by the other children and he truly dreaded going to school. Steve went on to college but eventually left to pursue a film career with the support from his parents he did go back and finish his degree. Steve started gaining traction in Hollywood for his work in directing TV shows and a few theatrical releases but really came to fame and notoriety with his film Jaws in 1975. It was a huge success and is seen as the first summer blockbuster. After this success he went on to direct so many of the films I and so many people truly love including Indiana Jones series, E.T., Jurassic Park, The Color Purple, The Empire of the Sun, Schindler’s List, Amistad, Saving Private Ryan, Munich, Lincoln, Bridge of Spies, and The Post. Steven also co-founded DreamWorks Studios and Amblin Entertainment, and has serves as a producer from many films such as back to the future and Men in Black. He has been dabbled in the video game industry as well.

It is just so amazing to think how one many can accomplish so much in his life and create things that have true magic that make us think, imagine, and dream. I can only hope to achieve a fraction of what he has, this man has touched the minds and hearts of almost everyone in America through his films. I can remember as kid being amazed by the adventures of Indiana Jones and as I’ve gotten older been through back by the historical accuracy and truth of Lincoln and Bridge of Spies. He does not just take us to different worlds and make us think beyond our own he teaches us able our own history and the many possible futures we could have.

His message to those who struggle with Dyslexia everyday “You are not alone, and while you will have dyslexia for the rest of your life, you can dart between the raindrops to get where you want to go. It will not hold you back.”

The next person I would like to introduce to you is Steve Jobs the founder of Apple the man who still have impact on our life every single day, weather checking the weather or texting your mom from one small device that fits in the palm of your hand you have to give him special thanks.

Steve Jobs was born on February 24, 1955 in San Francisco to a single mother who put him up for adoption knowing she would not give him the live he deserved. He was raised by his adoptive parents in the Bay Area. Steve was one of the greatest businessman and entrepreneurs in American history. He was the chairman, CEO, and co-founder of Apple Inc., founder and chairman of NeXT, along with being a member of Disney’s board of directors and helped founded Pixar.  He is seen as one of the pioneers of the microcomputer revolution. Steve always struggled a lot in school, he always found it very hard to pay attention and didn’t think it had much practical application in life. He did go onto college as his adoptive parents promised his birth mother that he would attend. He went to Reed College and dropped out after one semester he just did not see the purpose in the classes and after dropping out he stuck around for a while and dropped in on some classes that he found interesting but eventually just stopped going all together. He then went to India with his friends in 1974 seeking enlightenment he studied Zen Buddhism he would later return home looking how his purpose. I think it is just so interesting how much time has changed in that people were still able to work and succeed without college, I feel like nowadays the world we live in has made it almost impossible to succeed without college. After returning home he worked for Atari for a while and thought the new technology was so interesting, when working on a new project he asked his friend Steve Wozniak with help who was very interested in programing. They started working on a person computer for the average person, bringing this new technology that most people didn’t understand into their home. They would go on to own to start Apple together in 1976 selling the Apple I the personal computer, the company really took off after the invented the Apple II one of the first highly produced personal computers. Their success would continue with the Apple Lisa in 1983 and their biggest breakthrough with the Macintosh. As the company continued to grow they started to struggle and Steve’s leadership was questioned so they brought on John Sculley as CEO, Steve continued working on Apple projects and helped develop the computer graphic division of Lucasfilm. Along with helping to start Pixar which first film was Toy Story which is personally my favorite movie of my childhood.

In 1985 Steve was forced to resign by the board of Apple and John Sculley, he felt like he lost a large part of himself. He started a new company called NeXT computer where he works on a lot of different stuff and tried to figure out his life. During this time, he put a lot of time into his family and his company, but as he got himself together Apple started to fall apart. The company went through a couple CEO’s and the company needed proper leadership and vision. Steve was invited back in 1997 and merged NeXT with Apple and is seen as being the one who saved Apple which was on the verge on bankruptcy. He brought in the moto “Think different” which lead to all the apple products we love today from the Mac to the iPhone. Steve was diagnosed with a pancreatic neuroendocrine tumor in 2003, he would die at 56 in 2011, of respiratory arrest related to the tumor. Steve is truly inspirational in how he lived his life and what he was able to accomplish. I truly love his quote about the dots in his life during his famous Stanford commencement speech “So you have to trust that the dots will somehow connect in your future. You have to trust in something—your gut, destiny, life, karma, whatever. This approach has never let me down, and it has made all the difference in my life.”