admiration -- anderson cooper

I know that there are a ton of other things that I should be doing right now, other than this. I could be studying, I could be...I don't know, but all that doesn't matter much right now.

All I can think about is the book I just finished reading . What could probably be considered the most inspirational book I have ever read. I'll admit that the only reason why I bought it, and for that matter even read it was because I've got a crush on the author. It's like when we were young and all had a crush on some celebrity, whether it be Orlando Bloom, Tom Cruise, Matt Damon, Ashton Kutcher, or even Travis Pastrana. I guess that I should thank my dad for all those time that he used to watch CNN so I could find a fascination in that anchor. Who cares if he's 40, something about him drew me in.

I see it a little differently now, I've been watching his show daily, and have realized that there is a lot more to that gunmetal gray hair, blue eyes, and pale skin, than meets the eyes. There is brilliance, there is pain and sorrow, and in my eyes admiration.

This was the first and only book that has brought tears to my eyes everytime my eyes met the words. It was one of the few books that I have found utterly impossible to put down. Anderson Cooper's language it amazing and the personal side of the story is what makes Dispatches from the Edge: A Memoir of War, Disasters, and Survival one that touches your heart.

I never thought that I'd read a nonfiction book about war and starvation and hurricanes and tsunamis. Thats never really interested me much. I've always said that I'm more of an animal person, that I like animals more than people. Now, I have to change that. Still, I'm not the biggest fan of people but I've learned a lot more about the world outside of America.

Anderson Cooper saw all of this up close in person, he's seen more dead bodies that he can remember and been in situations that we'd never dare to enter. His life has more drama and suffering that anyone I know. His dad died when he was 10 and his brother commited suicide not long after but jumping over the balcony right outside Anderson's room, right in front of their mother. He has traveled all around the world, trying and reaching his goal of becoming a reporter. All that I envy, I admire. I wish to be that person that leaves college knowing exactly what they want to do with ther life and even making a fake press pass so they can do it. I want to be the person that's not afraid to travel to Iraq, to Burma, to Rwanda. Well, not unafraid, but daring enough, someone who's willing to risk there life to help others.

In the book he speaks of the people that he has met in the past 15 years of being a reporter. The people in Iraq, who live every day to the fullest because they never know if it will be their last. The women in Niger who's last child has died of starvation. The tragedy that hit Sri Lanka because of the tsunami, and Louisiana due to Katrina. These are the people that I should truely admire. The people who live everyday in fear, but still manage to smile once in a while. They are the people who are much less fortunate that we are, the people who we don't think about when we are at the market and can buy whatever we feel like eating. They are the mothers and fathers, sisters and brothers, daughters and sons, of those who have lost their lives. I want to be like these people too.

I want to stop taking things for granted, I want to go back into journalism. for a while I did want to major in journalism, then I found environmental law and wanted to do something relating to that. I thought that after 3 hours a week of Preofessor Kato, there would be no way in hell that I'd ever consider journalism again. But due to this book, I once again want to go into that field, but one thing stops me. Cooper says that he went in to reporting because he wanted to help people. Tell the world the story of what's going on where we can't see so that we can help. But that does nothing for the present. The life of the child that is on that thin line between life and death can't be saved by a broadcast tonight. If you look at journalism as a way to help people, it only help those in the future. Nothing you do will help the people who are suffering at the very moment that you are reading these words. The people who once they pass, will never be remembered. That's what bothers me.