Changing My Legs and My Mindset

This quarter I watched a Ted Talk done by Aimee Mullins. Aimee Mullins is a double amputee who doesn't have the bottom parts of both her legs. She was born without fibulas in both her legs. She did a talk on how she overcame that obstacle in her path and went to the Paralympics. She started out by telling the audience about her academic scholarship to Georgetown, this was the path which took her straight to the Paralympics. When she was at Georgetown she became interested in Track and Field, being an athletic girl she excelled in the sport. The coach of the team took time to train her personally, and she was blessed with the gift of new running legs. With the help of her coach, she made it to the Paralympics within a year of beginning to run competitively. She faced many struggles in races, but she never let that stop her. Her story is inspiring many today who are either paralegals or amputees.

This was a very encouraging speech and has shined a new light for me on the subject of amputees. Aimee was obviously very comfortable speaking about her struggles and accomplishments. She was very open with the audience and made many jokes, establishing a connection with audience through pathos. She spoke to the audience like she was speaking with a friend. Her ethos was established by the introduction, she was on stage with a friend in a interview type of setting. It was very obvious that she was qualified to be speaking on behalf of amputees and paralegals due to the fact that she is one. Her testimony was very engaging and uplifting. She didn’t make a point to bring pity to herself, she spoke only of how she was able to overcome the challenges in her life.

She brought on stage with her some of her legs. On stage she was wearing, what she called, her “pretty legs.” These legs looked very real and worked very well for her. Also on stage with her she had her running legs. These legs were prototypes, but were very interesting. She put on her running legs and demonstrated how they work by walking around in them. Throughout the whole speech she was making jokes and connecting with the audience, there was never a dull moment during this Ted Talk. People like Aimee deserve to be honored for the example they set and for the challenges they overcome.