Oprah Winfrey's Hardships

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“I honestly don't know. Someone has to show you the light in order to survive, the light of love, and I truly don't know who showed me mine. Except, perhaps God. I always felt He was there” (“Oprah Winfrey.” 536). Winfrey did not always have a good life, much of her adolescent years were spent struggling to keep her self confidence and make the right choices. Growing up on a farm in the middle of nowhere, Winfrey was forced to move up north with her mother to a different urban environment. There she encountered several hardships and was faced with an ultimatum that could change her life. Winfrey struggled with sexual abuse, poverty, racial problems, and numerous other issues. Winfrey took all these hardships and turned them into power, changing her life around and earning power and respect worldwide. As a result of Oprah Winfrey's rough past, amazing personality, determination, and generosity, she became an inspiration to many young women, and one of the most powerful people in the world. …show more content…

Winfrey was born on the twenty-ninth of January in 1954, in the small town of Kosciusko, Mississippi. Her unmarried parents, Vernon Winfrey and Vernita Lee, separated after her birth. Her grandmother started to become her primary caregiver, providing for Winfrey and allowing her to develop key life skills. Winfrey spent lots of time in church which gave her numerous opportunities to showcase herself. In her early adolescent years it became very clear that Oprah had a strong talent for reading, speaking, and memorizing. (Oprah Winfrey.) Oprah recalled saying, “I was a champion speaker… I spoke for every women’s group, banquet church function- I did the circuit. Anybody needed anybody to speak anything, they’d call me” (“Oprah Winfrey.”

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