In the movie October
Sky Homer has to overcome many obstacles to achieve his main goal of getting
a college scholarship. Living in
the small town of Coalwood didn’t help him much, either because nobody
believed in him and expected him to work in the coal mine like his dad.
Some obstacles he had to overcome were proving to people that he had a
future above ground, and could get out of the town.
He was also a little mathematically challenged so no one thought he could
be good a rocketry. Another
obstacle was once he found what he loved to do, making rockets, he had to find
the materials to make them, a place to shoot them, and motivation to keep trying
after some of his rockets failed.
Homer started life with a disadvantage, living in the town of Coalwood.
Most men there graduate from high school and go straight to the mines, so
that is what people expected Homer to do. But Homer had dreams for himself
including going to college, earn a degree, and never working in those mines.
At first Homer didn’t know how to get to college so he tried to play
football and maybe earn a scholarship like his brother but when he found out
that that wouldn’t work out he had to find something new. So one day under the
October sky he saw a sign that changed his life forever, the Sputnik Satellite. Once he saw this he knew he wanted to build rockets.
He told his dad and his dad thought it was hogwash and that Homer
wasn’t smart enough and that he just needed to work in the mines.
However, Homer knew he could do it but had to work very hard for his
dad’s approval.
Another obstacle for Homer was being mathematically challenged.
When his principal found out about Homer’s dream he thought nonsense
about it too because Homer wasn’t the brightest star in the sky. This just motivated Homer more and making him study harder
and research about rockets. One
very important person involved with Homer’s success was Ms. Riley.
She was the only adult that believed in Homer from the start.
She even bought Homer books about rocketry that inspired him.
This book was more important than most people think because not only did
it inspire him, but it also gave him a solution to prove himself innocent from
starting a fire. Homer studied very
hard and taught himself trigonometry, which aided in building good rockets.
Homer is an excellent example of someone who tried very hard to learn and
prove people wrong about his smarts.
One more example of an obstacle that Homer had to overcome was getting
materials to build his rocket, and finding a safe place to shoot his rockets
incase something went wrong. At
first Homer just used powder from a lot of bottle rockets to shoot his first
rocket. When this rocket literally
blew up in his face he was forced to find a new material.
One of his friends suggest 100% alcohol which they bought from a moon
shiner. Once they had a good fuel
for the rocket they needed something that would not melt so someone suggested
railroad steel so Homer went to an abandoned rail road and took some of the
track. He also talked a mine worker
into welding for him. When they
needed someplace to go to safely shoot the rockets they thought of a place about
eight miles away and once again Ms. Riley helped them get there. Homer is a great example of someone who made the best out of
what he had and ended up making some darn good rockets.
As one can see, Homer overcame many obstacles that could have easily shut
him down and force him to work in the dark, dirty mines for his whole life.
Homer overcame his obstacles and got out of Coalwood.
He is now working for NASA. Homer
is a great example of someone who could have quit and accepted what everyone
expected him to do, but he kept dreaming and eventually got out of the Coalwood
and now has a safe enjoyable profession.