My Hero By: Aneesha M

My Hero: Coach Grace Silva By: Aneesha

Grace Silva was born on March 31 in Nigeria. She is currently 24 years old and is agraduate student at UNC. At a young age she had three older brothers and played a lot ofsports including basketball, soccer, swimming, tennis and many other sports. Her dad hada Ph.D. in Physical Science and Health so many sports were open to her. Growing up inBaltimore, Maryland, she liked to be funny and loved to go on vacations to Busch Gardensand Washington, DC. She loved reading in her free time. Her favorite books were theBabysitter’s Club Book Series and anything written by C. S. Lewis. Her favorite subjectwas math. She has earned many awards including Maryland State Basketball Championship and Meyerhoff Scholarship Award, which she said were the two best thingsthat happened to her. For undergraduate school, she was admitted to the University ofMaryland School of Medicine for her strong academics and Savannah College for heramazing basketball playing from high school. She took the scholarship to the University ofMaryland saying, “Academics are more important than sports,” and afterwards decided togo to the University of North Carolina for graduate school. She currently works as agraduate student researcher at the Lineberger Comprehensive Cancer Center. She hasworked extremely hard in her life and her own personal hero is Ben Carson; aneurosurgeon at John Hopkins University. Grace is an amazing person and here is why sheis my hero.

Grace Silva has a lot of perseverance. She never gives up and keeps going. She hasfaith and hope in everybody and it makes me feel like I could and should reach higher.When she is around, I feel like I should never give up and keep on trying no matter whathappens. As my basketball coach, she inspires me in my everyday life to continue on andto never stop. If one approach doesn’t work, she will get around it and find another waybecause she doesn’t want to quit. She doesn’t just stop because something is difficult. Shewill work hard until she achieves her goals. I really admire her for this trait.

My hero Grace is also patient. She is patient because on my basketball team, we messup a LOT. But Grace moves on and tries to help us improve. Instead of yelling andcriticizing like some coaches do, she starts us over and has us practice again. Grace isbeyond patient. She controls her emotions really well and is not the person who holdsgrudges. If we can’t do something during basketball practice, she won’t move on until everysingle person on my team gets it. She does that because she cares about every single oneof us and doesn’t want anyone to fall behind. She takes things slowly and makes sureeverybody finishes. She will never give up on anybody. I admire Grace for her patience andhope I can be like that one day.

Last but not least, Grace is caring. She cares about everybody and their feelings andmakes sure everybody is okay. Also, Grace always boosts my confidence and makes mefeel better whenever I see her. She pays attention to every person on the team. If we are atpractice and somebody gets injured, she will help them and make sure they are okaybefore continuing. I respect and appreciate Grace for her caring attitude toward our team. She is unique in that she puts others before herself.

Coach Grace has had a huge impact on my life. She pushes me to do my best andrecognizes my potential. She finds ways for me to improve before I can even think about itmyself. As my basketball coach she works hard to help me reach my full potential. I feel likeI can tell her anything and she will understand. I’m glad that I’ve met her because she bringsthe best out of people especially on my team and never gives up. She sets a good
example for everyone who knows her by working really hard in her life. This is why I choseCoach Grace as my hero; because she cares, understands and makes me feel like I can
do anything I want if I just try. She has a special connection to me and I really love that shebelieves in me. She is more than just a basketball coach and I love that she is in my life.