Many may recognize the name Helen Keller, but few know the true impact that this woman had on the world. Because I admire Keller greatly and share a recent birthday with her, I thought it fitting to write a tribute to her life. It may be a bit dry, but it is important to me. Thanks for reading!

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At nineteen months old, scarlet fever caused Helen Keller to be blind, deaf, and mute. The doctors did not know it immediately, but the terrible news was known a few weeks later. Helen was neither taught nor given lessons until the age of six. Her instructor was Anne Sullivan. Sullivan was quite vital in assisting Helen to learn. She remained with Helen for nearly the rest of her life, patiently teaching. Because of her, Helen Keller had proper schooling, was very active in social affairs, and traveled the world to spread her causes.

When Helen was six years old, her father took her to Washington D.C. to be examined by Alexander Graham Bell. Bell recommended that Helen be schooled at the Perkins Institute for the Blind. When this was not available, Helen's father hired a teacher from the school to teach Helen. Her teacher, Anne Sullivan, taught obedience first and proceeded with such things as the manual alphabet and the Braille alphabet. From this point, Helen began to excel greatly. After Anne Sullivan brought Helen to the Horace Mann School for the Deaf, she learned incredibly fast despite her impairments. In just a few years, Keller was fluent in English, French, and German. Later, she attended the Wright-Humason School for the Deaf and the Cambridge School for Young Ladies, studying history, math, literature, astronomy, and physics. Then, in 1904, Helen graduated from Radcliffe College. Despite being blind and deaf, Helen Keller was very successful in her education.