“Turn your wounds into wisdom” — Oprah Winfrey.
When we talk about the contemporary “Queen of Media, the first name that pop ups in our mind is that of the American TV show Host and renowned Journalist Oprah Winfrey. But very few people across the globe know about the struggles and pain Oprah went from to finally achieve all the success she has now. The actual name, Winfrey was given was Biblical character “Orpah”, but people often mispronounced it and became Oprah. Winfrey is among the most influential personalities in the world. She has many awards and alumni on her name. She is among the most successful and rich women in the USA. But all the credentials, she currently has, and all the success of her is earned after going through a considerable amount of struggle, and devastating hardships in life.
Oprah was born and bought up in a very poor family. Her mother was an unmarried teen when she gave birth to Oprah. Later she took little Winfrey and travelled to her maternal grandmother Hattie Mae Lee where she spent the first six-year of her life. Due to the extreme poverty, Oprah used to wear dresses made of potato sacks, for which she was mocked in the school by her fellow classmates. Winfrey learned reading from her grandmother who used to take her to the church and made her read bibles.
Her grandmother was abusive, to Winfrey when she used to be a child. At six, Winfrey moved to inner-city neighborhood Milwaukee Wisconsin with her mother who was not as supportive as her grandmother, maybe because she was forced to spend a lot of her time working as a maid to earn living.
Winfrey’s younger sister Patrica died due to cocaine addiction at age of 43. Soon after, she was sent to his maternal father Vernon, in Tennessee at the age of nine. In-between, her mother gave birth to her third daughter, who was put up for adoption in order to ease financial pressure. In 2010, the humanitarian legend came to know about it when she found out that her sister was raised on welfare. By the time Winfrey moved back, her mother gave birth to his brother Jeffrey, who unfortunately had also passed away.
Winfrey suffered a number of sexual abuses during her childhood. She was molested on different occasions by her own cousin, uncle, and a family friend. When she told about her being sexually abused by her cousin, uncle, and family friend, to her family, they refused to believe her. Broken Oprah ran away from her home at the age of 13 to escape the molestation and abuse. When she was 14, she became pregnant and gave birth to a premature son who died shortly after birth. Winfrey shares this story, saying the reason behind not having any children of her own. Winfrey at a very young age has gone through a lot. Poverty, sexual abuse, lack of resources, loss of son had shaped her childhood memories with grief and sorrow.
She still remembers those study days of her life, where she was constantly mocked and reminded about her poverty by her fellow mates. She used to steal money from her mother's purse, just to match up with her peer group. Winfrey's first-ever job was at the local grocery shop. Soon after, she worked at a radio station as a newsreader. Subsequently, she completed her studies in communication and kickstarted her career at a media house.
Today Oprah is amongst the most influential personalities in the world. She has worked immensely hard and has also learned from her failures. The experiences that took place in the early days of her life, made her even stronger. She never gave up on situations and fought until she achieved success.
Thus, Oprah Winfrey has a truly inspiring and motivational story. As of late, she is currently involved in a lot of charity works, to help out the needy and deprived section of society. She has funded many welfare organizations and is also the founder of three colossal foundations such as Angel Network, Oprah Winfrey Foundation, Oprah Winfrey operating Foundation.
