Samuel Villasenor

When we ask what does it mean to humans we are also asking another question that I believe

goes with the meaning of being human and that is what's the purpose of life. There are many different

ways that you can go about answering the question of what is means to humans. Some people may

believe that there is no real meaning to be a human and that we are just going through the motions of

life. While others believe that there is much deeper meaning behind what makes humans, humans.

Being human to me is trying to find your purpose in life and struggling to be able to find out what that

purpose is. Being human also means how we are not perfect and all of us make mistakes in life yet we

still find a way to improve as a whole little by little. But, another element is added to this question

when we bring in the literature aspect of the whole thing. Literature brings out everything that we as

humans can think and act upon. Books also always have the main character struggle to achieve their

goal and then they work as hard as they possibly can to be able to reach this goal.

“Being human means you will make mistakes. And you will make mistakes,

because failure is God’s way of moving you in another direction.” - Oprah

Winfrey

One book that I believe that real shows the aspects of struggle and how all of us go through it

is Asohka. This book really captivates how even if you are very powerful and once had the potential to

be able to do anything it can all go away in one fell swoop. Asohka was once taught by one of the

strongest Jedi in Anakin and she herself had the potential to be very strong but that did not save her

from the struggle that makes us all feel weak and human. Because, it is not when we are strong and

on top of the world when we feel human but when we are at are weakest and most fragile state. The

people who are powerful and on top of the world do not really believe themselves to be one of us
because they are usually better than the masses or are more attractive. This is why when we see a

celebrity or someone of importance who can be like us a normal person we are amazed that someone

of power can be “human”. This is the case for Ashoka because she may be an alien but once she fell

from grace and became weakened in my eyes she had become human. Even though she is an alien I

saw her as a human because being human is more about the weakness and struggle rather than what

we are made up of and how we look. “She was unbalanced, Ahsoka decided, pulled in too many

directions by her new feelings and her old grief.” (Johnston 74) This is what all humans go through at

an almost regular basis until you are able to just to block out of the negative energy that you have in

your heart and soul. When we are going through rough times your harsh experience from your past

usually also start to stack on top of the current problems that you are suffering from. But, these bad

times are what make us human because it’s something that no other species really have to go through

since they are driven by their instincts. Humans though have to overcome their grief and battle

through the present and past because we are driven more by emotion than anything else. And when

you are in this sense of grief and insecurity you feel weak and powerless and humans are weak when

they are just by themselves. But, being human doesn’t solely being weak but rather what you do when

you are in that position.

“Being human means having doubts and yet still counting on your own

path.” -Paulo Coelho

Maybe that example of being human was not the right one because I used someone from a

fictional series and on top of that the character herself was not human. A better example of what it

means to be human comes from the book Friday Night Lights and the person Boobie Miles. Boobie

Miles story is a very human and a very humbling one on top of that. Boobie was the star player on his

high school football team Odessa high and this school had a very good history when it comes to

football and Boobie was not just some regular player he was being recruited by a lot of the big D1

schools. Boobie started off as someone who I would really consider a real human because he was able

to just skate off the fact that he was the star running back. Him being the star basically gave him
powers the city loved him, the coaches didn’t care what he did as long as he played, and he didn’t have

to take school seriously because the teachers would just pass him because he was a star. But, then he

got struck by an injury that ended his career and all of his special treatment. “In the aftermath of that

meaningless scrimmage in the summer twilight in Lubbock, Trapper envisioned a definite fate for

Boobie Miles who had been the dazzling jewel of the Watermelon feed ‘I think he’s just gonna drift

away’ ” (Bissinger 75) This was one of the most human things that can happen to anyone. One day you

are on top of the world and filled with potential but one day, one meaningless day it’s like your life is

over. So, many people only focus on one thing and it’s not a bad thing because trying to get as good as

you possibly can at your goal/dream. It’s the human thing to do, putting everything you possibly can

into your dream. But, it is even more human for us to lose that thing we love so much because one day

that should have been otherwise meaningless. Being human also means that life isn’t always going to

be some fairy tale where good things always happen to us and we get what we want. The talented

usually have to learn this the hard way since, they believe it was all meant to be.

“When life hurts - Observe. Life is trying to teach you something.” - Anita

Krizzan
Being human is hard it will always be hard. Being human is not an easy thing to do there are

so many sacrifices that will have to be made. You may want something very bad but you will have to

pass up on that to protect something that is near and dear to your heart. Being human is to get hurt,

have heart ache, to feel like maybe you don’t deserve this. Yet, you still are able to push through the

doubts that got through your head and just maybe get want you want. In all honesty being a human

sucks sometimes because the toughest times in our lives feel like they last for ever and the happiest

moments never seem to last long enough. And we just make so many mistakes when we are young

and even when we get older and wiser. I am only 17 yet I wish I had a time mechanine to fix so many

things that i had done wrong and to cherish the moments that are no longer with me. That’s the

beautiful thing about humans though we have so many regrets and bad moments yet we still are able
to accomplish whatever we want in life. The people that we love are the reason because of this they

pick you up when you are down and you do the same for them. All in all, being human is complex and

there are so many factors that contribute to who we are.

Bissinger, H. G. Friday Night Lights: a Town, a Team, and a Dream. Da Capo Press, 2015.

Johnston, E. K. Star Wars: Ahsoka. Disney, Lucasfilm Press, 2016.