John Green: A Hero

John Green is a hero in the eyes of many people, especially teenagers. He has the ability to change the lives of billions. He does this through everything that he does: writing, videos, and charity.

This beloved author was born on the 24th of August in 1997 and spent most of his childhood in Orlando, Florida (John Green). He also spent his childhood changing schools many times, but ended up graduating from Indian Springs School in Alabama. (John Green). After this, he went to Kenton College in Gambier, Ohio where he double-majored in English and Religious Studies (John Green). John married Sarah Urist-Green who is an assistant curator at the IMA (“Teen Beat”). They have two kids together: Henry, who is four, and Alice, who is one (Talbot).

Along with his family, John has a YouTube channel, vlogbrothers, with his brother Hank. They started it in 2007, and they have millions (and counting) of subscribers (John Green). At first, Hank wasn’t sure if he wanted to do the channel and be the dumpsite for all of John’s extra energy (Talbot). He told an interviewer: “I found John exciting and smart and interesting but also a little dramatic. He gets frustrated easily. He’s anxious. Hypochondriacal” (Talbot). When the videos started going viral, their most dedicated fans called themselves “Nerdfighters.” On his website, John explains that nerdfighters “fight for intellectualism and to decrease the worldwide level of suck” (John Green). He says, “Decreasing suck takes many forms: Nerdfighters have raised thousands of dollars to fight poverty in the developing world; they also planted thousands of trees in May 2010 to celebrate Hank’s 30th birthday” (John Green). It is hard to believe that a dedicated writer with a family and a YouTube channel can have any time for anything else, but he does. There are children who have requested to talk to John through the Make-A-Wish Foundation, and every month or so he will Skype with sick kids and multiple times a month he will talk to some on the phone (Talbot). A close friend of he even said that when in public “It’s to a point where it happens every single time. And I’ve never seen him be anything but polite and gracious. Never. He gets it” (“John Green Finally Goes to the Movies!”). With all that John does, he also supports charities.
He gives back by supporting charities through the Project For Awesome and the Foundation to Decrease World Suck (FTDWS).

The FTDWS was created in 2007 and runs throughout the year (Project For Awesome). It became a real thing when it turned into a non-profit organization in Montana in 2011 (Project For Awesome). It is 100% volunteer run and exists to help other charities (Project For Awesome). P4A has been held every year since 2007 and now occurs every year on the second Friday and Saturday of December (Project For Awesome). In 2013, $850,000 was raised which benefitted twenty charities (Project For Awesome). To raise money, people will post videos during a live stream where they talk about a charity of their choice (Project For Awesome). The brothers explain, “100% of all money raised goes to charity less the cost of Perl manufacturing, Indiegogos fees, and credit card fees. Everything is packed and shipped by volunteers, and no one is paid a single penny for any work related to P4A of the FTDWS” (Project For Awesome). On their website, they also state the two different ways money is split: The first part of the money is raised from 12am ET on December 10th, through 11:59am ET on December 13th, this will go to Save the Children and Partners in Health, ones that Nerdfighteria has worked with closely over the years. The second half is raised from 12pm (noon) ET on December 13th through 11:59pm ET on December 16th, donations will go to community chosen organizations, based

on the votes on the Project For Awesome website (Project For Awesome).
John is an amazing and dedicated writer.

He starts off his books by asking questions that interest him or pique his curiosity: “Why are we so interested in leaving a legacy? Can we construct meaning in a world that is so profoundly apathetic towards us? Is it possible to have a full life without having a long life?” (John Green). With these great questions as well as characters, he is able to create stories that touch his readers. He has written the books: Looking For Alaska, An Abundance of Katherines, Paper Towns, and The Fault in Our Stars. Along with this, he is a coauthor with David Levithan in Will Grayson, Will Grayson, and he wrote a short story “A Cheertastic Christmas Miracle” with Lauren Myracle and Maureen Johnson in the book Let it Snow. Around eight years ago, John met a teen girl online named Esther Grace Earl (Talbot). She was one of his biggest nerdfighters and had thyroid cancer (Talbot). They became close, but she died in 2010 when she was sixteen, and John said that he “couldn’t have written it (the book) without her” (Talbot). After she died he helped her parents publish a book filled with her essays and drawings through Dutton (“John Green Finally Goes to the Movies!”). The Fault in our Stars is easily Green’s most popular book. Before it was even finished or published, it reached the top spot on the Amazon and Barnes & Noble websites (“Teen Beat”). This happened because he announced that he would be signing the entire first printing (around 150,000

books), and nerdfighters placed pre-orders (“Teen Beat”). He even had to go to physical therapy for his shoulder (Talbot). Signing all of those books nearly drove him mad, claiming that he “knew that someone was going to get this book, and they would open it up and be like, ‘Well, that sucks’” (“John Green Finally Goes to the Movies”). He would apologize under all of the signatures he felt were bad and even wrote down a URL to see a video where he apologized again for the bad signature (“Teen Beat”). When writing TFIOS John said, “The truth is, every kid I’ve ever known with cancer was normal, not like the long suffering kid with wisdom beyond her years or any of that crap. Just normal- funny, smart, and empathetic and self involved like any other teenager. I wanted to find a way to reflect that, so that we could see that there is value and heroism within short lives” (“Teen Beat”). Josh Boone (a director) had a friend pass away from cancer and was healing when he found TFIOS (“John Green Finally Goes to the Movies!”). He wanted to direct a movie for it and Green was even able to have a very strong pull when it came to decisions being made for the movie (“John Green Finally Goes to the Movies!”). John is a bestselling author and his books have won awards and even been written in different languages. He has never expected this kind of fame to some from his books, but he was able to make it happen with all of dedication and amazing writing.
It is easy to see that John is a hero that changes peoples lives. Whether it is through YouTube, charity, or his writing, he is able to touch and change many lives. He is a remarkable human that gives others hope, and it would be incredible if everyone could see it too.