YOUR HERO PROJECT
  • Home
    • Syllabus
    • Lesson Plan #1
    • Hero You Should Know #1: Benedict Joseph Labre)
    • Blog Entry #1: Benedict Joseph Labre
    • Activities for Class #1
  • Stage 1: The Ordinary World
    • Lesson Plan #2
    • Hero You Should Know #2: Ralph Lazo
    • Blog Entry #2: Ralph Lazo
    • Activities for Class #2
    • Lesson Plan #3
    • Hero You Should Know #3: Eddie Aikau
    • Blog Entry #3: Eddie Aikau
    • Activity for Class #3
    • Lesson Plan #4
    • Blog Entry #4: Tegla Loroupe
    • Hero You Should Know #4: Tegla Loroupe
    • Activities for Class #4
  • Stage 2: The Call to Adventure
    • Lesson Plan #5
    • Hero You Should Know #5: Robin Emmons
    • Blog Entry #5: Robin Emmons
    • Activities for Class #5
    • Lesson Plan #6
    • Hero You Should Know #6 Alok Dixit and Laxmi Agarwal
    • Blog Entry #6: Alok Dixit and Laxmi Agarwal
    • Activity for Class #6
    • Lesson Plan #7
    • Hero You Should Know #7: Biddy Mason
    • Blog Entry #7: Biddy Mason
    • Activities for Class #7
  • Stage 3: Crossing the Threshold
    • Lesson Plan #8
    • Hero You Should Know #8: Iqbal Masih
    • Blog Entry #8: Iqbal Masih
    • Activities for Class #8
    • Lesson Plan #9
    • Hero You Should Know #9: Marianne Cope
    • Blog Entry #9: Marianne Cope
    • Activity for Class #9
    • Lesson Plan #10
    • Hero You Should Know #10: Vivienne Harr
    • Blog Entry #10: Vivienne Harr
    • Activities for Class #10
  • Stage 4: The Path of Trials
    • Lesson Plan #11
    • Heroes You Should Know #11: Maria "Meva" Dobrucka
    • Blog Entry #11: Maria "Meva" Dobrucka
    • Activities for Class #11
    • Lesson Plan #12
    • Heroes You Should Know #12:
    • Blog Entry #12: Kabiljos and Hardagas
    • Activities for Class #12
    • Lesson Plan #13
    • Hero You Should Know #13:
    • Blog Entry #13: Faraaz Hossain
    • Activities for Class #13
  • Stage 5: The Return
    • Lesson Plan #14
    • Hero You Should Know #14: Mary Johnson
    • Blog Entry #14: Mary Johnson
    • Activities for Class #14
    • Lesson Plan #15
    • Hero You Should Know #15: Janusz Korczak
    • Blog Entry #15: Janusz Korczak
    • Activities for Class #15
    • Lesson Plan #16
    • Hero You Should Know #16: Mildred and Richard Loving
    • Blog Entry #16: Mildred and Richard Loving
    • Activities for Class #16
  • The Essential Question
    • Lesson Plan #17
    • Activity for Class #17
  • Contact

The Path of Trials

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Now out in the big, wide world, the hero is exposed to many forms of hardship, and must endure suffering:  personal attacks from 'friend' and foe alike; physical, emotional, and/or spiritual ordeals; betrayals and losses.  This is the Path of Trials, and it cannot, should not be done alone. In order to persevere, learn, and not despair or give up, the virtue of Friendship is essential.  It is Friendship that enables the hero to carry on, to discover new skills and gifts, to establish new alliances, and to keep hope alive.
In The Fellowship of the Ring, Frodo leans on his comrades, Sam, Gandalf, Merry, Pippin, Aragorn, Legolas, and Gimli, as he treks toward Mordor.  In The Hunger Games, Katniss loves, loses, and fights on with the help of Peeta, Gale, Haymitch, Effie, and Cinna.  In Divergent, 'Tris' loses her mother and father but learns to lean on her new family.  And in The Deathly Hallows, Harry faces Voldemort and death accompanied by
​his clan---both living and dead.


“Wishing to be friends is quick work, but friendship is a slow ripening fruit.”
-Aristotle
In reflecting on the Path of Trials, consider the Top 10 Stressors for Teens*:
  1. School and Grades
  2. Family Issues
  3. Body Image
  4. Finances
  5. Popularity
  6. Siblings
  7. Changes
  8. Romantic relationships
  9. Cyber-bullying
  10. Criticism
*https://howtoadult.com/top-ten-stressors-teens-8143126.html
Piglet sidled up to Pooh from behind.
"Pooh!" he whispered.
"Yes, Piglet?"
"Nothing," said Piglet, taking Pooh's paw. "I just wanted to be sure of you.”
-A.A. Milne,
​The House at Pooh Corner
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​According to the Mayo Clinic:

  • Social ties are twice as important as exercise for boosting life expectancy
  • People with larger social networks tend to experience less stress and healthier blood pressure
  • People with strong friendships have reduced levels of depression and unhealthy body mass index (BMI)





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Jean Vanier
What do you need to have a real and lasting friendship?  A partial list should certainly include the following:
  • Common interests
  • Personal history
  • Common values
  • Mutuality
  • Affection
  • Sacrifice for the other
  • Trust
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                                                                                                                                            The Blind Side: The Virtue of Friendship

If I asked you to name a quarterback who has played in the NFL, my guess is that even non-football fans could come up with someone:  Joe Montana, Brett Favre, Cam Newton, Tom Brady, Aaron Rogers.  But how many of you could name the offensive left tackles who guarded the “blind sides” of these quarterbacks?  Right. 

That’s because, fair or not, the quarterback gets most of the glory.  The responsibility to score points is literally in his hands, so most games are as well. 
         
As the game unfolds, the quarterback takes the ball and drops back time and again, while looking downfield for an open receiver to pass to.  And he looks, and looks, and looks...and all the while the left tackle stands between him and disaster, protecting him from the violent rush of players coming from behind him and wanting to crush him.  The quarterback may get the attention, but he’d be picking up his teeth much more often than wins if someone didn’t have his back.

         
Michael Lewis highlights this truth in 
The Blind Side, a good book that became an inspiring movie.  But the story of Michael Oher, the young man who goes from poster child for youth-at-risk to NFL star, is about a lot more than football.
         
Oher had all the physical gifts in the world;  massive size, herculean strength, and eye-popping agility.  Yet he would have been lost if the Tuohys, his adoptive family, hadn’t taken an active interest in him, continued investing love and care in him, and provided a safe environment where he could develop and grow.  Through friendship, they had his “blind side.” 

         
Becoming a successful human being, 
which is not the same thing as becoming wealthy, famous, or powerful, is essentially about relationships.  And at the heart of relationships is the virtue of friendship. 
         
It takes a great deal to be a friend.  Yet, the common perception continues to be that if you have fun with someone, you’re friends.  Friendships apparently demand about as much effort as "following" someone on Twitter, "liking" a post on Instagram, or clicking “accept” on a Facebook  invitation. 

         
This, of course, is a recipe for disaster.

         
Friendship, like any virtue, takes time to develop.  It can and should include fun, and common interests, and attraction.  But it’s about a lot more than that.

         
Friendship, 
true and personal connection that lasts, is always about giving and receiving;   practicing  and  learning how to be trustworthy with another, how to be responsive with another, how to be caring with another, and how to be truthful with another.
         
But to really understand the virtue of friendship, begin by focusing on the 'blind side protection.'  Have your friend's back!

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  • Home
    • Syllabus
    • Lesson Plan #1
    • Hero You Should Know #1: Benedict Joseph Labre)
    • Blog Entry #1: Benedict Joseph Labre
    • Activities for Class #1
  • Stage 1: The Ordinary World
    • Lesson Plan #2
    • Hero You Should Know #2: Ralph Lazo
    • Blog Entry #2: Ralph Lazo
    • Activities for Class #2
    • Lesson Plan #3
    • Hero You Should Know #3: Eddie Aikau
    • Blog Entry #3: Eddie Aikau
    • Activity for Class #3
    • Lesson Plan #4
    • Blog Entry #4: Tegla Loroupe
    • Hero You Should Know #4: Tegla Loroupe
    • Activities for Class #4
  • Stage 2: The Call to Adventure
    • Lesson Plan #5
    • Hero You Should Know #5: Robin Emmons
    • Blog Entry #5: Robin Emmons
    • Activities for Class #5
    • Lesson Plan #6
    • Hero You Should Know #6 Alok Dixit and Laxmi Agarwal
    • Blog Entry #6: Alok Dixit and Laxmi Agarwal
    • Activity for Class #6
    • Lesson Plan #7
    • Hero You Should Know #7: Biddy Mason
    • Blog Entry #7: Biddy Mason
    • Activities for Class #7
  • Stage 3: Crossing the Threshold
    • Lesson Plan #8
    • Hero You Should Know #8: Iqbal Masih
    • Blog Entry #8: Iqbal Masih
    • Activities for Class #8
    • Lesson Plan #9
    • Hero You Should Know #9: Marianne Cope
    • Blog Entry #9: Marianne Cope
    • Activity for Class #9
    • Lesson Plan #10
    • Hero You Should Know #10: Vivienne Harr
    • Blog Entry #10: Vivienne Harr
    • Activities for Class #10
  • Stage 4: The Path of Trials
    • Lesson Plan #11
    • Heroes You Should Know #11: Maria "Meva" Dobrucka
    • Blog Entry #11: Maria "Meva" Dobrucka
    • Activities for Class #11
    • Lesson Plan #12
    • Heroes You Should Know #12:
    • Blog Entry #12: Kabiljos and Hardagas
    • Activities for Class #12
    • Lesson Plan #13
    • Hero You Should Know #13:
    • Blog Entry #13: Faraaz Hossain
    • Activities for Class #13
  • Stage 5: The Return
    • Lesson Plan #14
    • Hero You Should Know #14: Mary Johnson
    • Blog Entry #14: Mary Johnson
    • Activities for Class #14
    • Lesson Plan #15
    • Hero You Should Know #15: Janusz Korczak
    • Blog Entry #15: Janusz Korczak
    • Activities for Class #15
    • Lesson Plan #16
    • Hero You Should Know #16: Mildred and Richard Loving
    • Blog Entry #16: Mildred and Richard Loving
    • Activities for Class #16
  • The Essential Question
    • Lesson Plan #17
    • Activity for Class #17
  • Contact