Hispanic+Heritage+Essay+16MAR 

Nancy Lopez is a great role model and inspiration to people today who think that race holds you back. She overcame many challenges because she is part Mexican. She is a professional golfer, because she was part Mexican her golf career was a challenge. Nancy was born in America but her parents are from Mexico. Today Nancy Lopez continues to be a very talented golf player. Nancy Lopez can show people in out world today that no matter what your race is you can overcome it and do whatever you set your mind too. I am going to tell you about some of the challenges that Nancy faced and how she overcame them. Also I will tell you why I believe Nancy is a role model to Hispanics today.

Nancy Marie Lopez was born in Torrance, California on January 6, 1957. She was raised in Roswell, New Mexico with her parents and older sister. Her parents were Domingo and Marina Lopez. Her father owned an auto repair business, and her mother took care of the house and the kids. She started playing golf very early in life, around age 8. Her father was her coach. She started with not very nice clubs and little knowledge about the sport. Nancy's golf career made her whole family sacrifice lots. Golf was Nancy's favorite thing to do, it was her passion.(Notable Sports Figures) She knew that it was not going to be easy, but she knew she could do it if she set her mind to it. Nancy's family was very helpful in her career and they helped set her up for success.

Nancy had some challenges to overcome before she became a professional golfer. One of these was where she could practice. Nancy and her father tried to use the golfing ranges at country clubs to practice. In particular, one country club called Roswell Country Club did not allow Nancy to practice there because of her Mexican back round. Because she could not play there her father and her had to go to a court really far away. This made Nancy's life and her family life's harder. (American Sports) This made Nancy and her father upset. Nancy believed that no matter what race or back round you have all people should be treated the same and equally. Nancy felt that her not being able to practice there was very unfair. This challenge made it hard for Nancy to have a good court to practice on. This is just one challenge that Nancy had to face to get to where she is today.

Probably the biggest challenge of all was this one. Nancy Lopez loved golfing. Her father taught her lots about the sport. She always wanted to practice. When she was in high school she wanted to play on the girls golf team. At her high school their was not a girls team, so she wanted to play on the boys team. She was originally not allowed. So Nancy took a stand and challenges the school board to let her play on the boys team. The school board approved her request and she played on the boys team. Nancy later became one of the top players on the boys team.(Nancy Lopez) This challenge that she overcame later helped her improve in her golf career. Nancy did not care that there was not a girls team, she wanted to play on a school team and that is what she did. Nancy showed everyone at the school that if you want to do something then do it, and put everything you have into it. People looked up to her after they saw what she did. They thought maybe I can do this too.

Since Nancy was an instant success and she won so many titles and tournaments she intimidated many people. Also her Mexican back round made some people question her. Many people judged and questioned her. Nancy faced this problem throughout her whole career.(Nancy Lopez) The whole time Nancy persevered and got through the hard times. Nancy was a very strong willed women, she never gave up when things got hard. All the challenges really made her stronger and a better golfer. In the end all the challenges she overcame made her a better individual. Nancy later in life won many many tournaments and tournaments. She later got married and had three children. ( Nancy Lopez) She was a very talented golfer. Nancy Lopez is an inspiration to all people, but especially Hispanics who think that just because of their race they can not do certain things. Nancy showed all people that this is not true. Nancy Lopez is a person that shows that if you work hard and dream big you can achieve that goal. I look up to and admire Nancy for overcoming all these hard challenges. I hope that now you can see how much of an amazing person Nancy Lopez truly is and how that if you dream big you can accomplish anything.


 * Works Cited**

"American Sports." Murry R. Nelson, n.d. Web. .
 * This is a valid source because it is an actual article about her in a book.

"Celebrate Hispanic Heritage! Latinos in History." //Celebrate Hispanic Heritage! Latinos in History//. Scholastic, n.d. Web. 26 Apr. 2016. .


 * This is a valid source because it is a scholastic website, which is put on by professionals.

"Nancy Lopez: 1957-: Golfer - An Early Success." Net Industries and Its Licensors, n.d. Web. .


 * This is a valid source because all the facts are consistent between all the sites I have looked at.

"Notable Sports Figures." //Encyclopedia.com//. The Gale Group Inc., n.d. Web. .
 *  This is a valid source because it is an encyclopedia with lots of valid information with accurate facts.