Britney Spears once sang, “She's so lucky. She's a star, But she cry, cry, cries in her lonely heart. Thinking, if there's nothing missing in my life. Then why do these tears come at night?” Though many people may laugh, my hero is Britney Spears. Now, I’m sure many people have already stopped reading this essay because they think it is too absurd. But that’s the problem with our world; people are misunderstood and we don’t give them the chance to shine.

Known as the “pop princess”, Britney Spears, at age eleven, became a part of a TV series, The Mickey Mouse Club; however, the show was canceled after Britney’s second season. On this television show, she met her future boyfriend, Justin Timberlake. After the shows cancelation, Britney then decided to go to New York, where she was constantly auditioning to be the singer in a band. During one of her auditions, she was discovered by Eric Foster White, who helped boost Britney’s career into action. She created her first hit single “Baby One More Time” in 1998, shocking all of America that she was just a high school student. Her first album, entitled “Baby One More Time” made it into the charts as number one immediately and stayed number one for 6 weeks. Later followed up with her next album “Oops I Did it Again”. In 2002 she received a GRAMMY for her song “Toxic” as the best dance recording. She instantly was considered to be the hot teen pop star at the age of only 17.

But Britney’s fabulous career didn’t stay so hot for long. It all started with the break up with her boyfriend of 2 ½ years, Justin Timberlake, who she claimed was the first man she ever loved. He broke up with her due to the fact that she was too busy, and was “letting the fame get to her.” In 2004 she got married to a former back up dancer, Kevin Federline. Two years passed and they got a divorce, after she had two children with him. Her life was falling apart. She became a drunk, and lost custody of her two babies, who she has said she loves more than anything in the world. One February night in 2007, Britney went out to a hair salon, where she shaved her own head and received a tattoo. This bald beauty finally claimed to the world she needed some help, and begged the paparazzi to leave her alone, which they obviously didn’t.

Near the end of 2007, Britney was still a mess, yet came out with a single called “Gimme More”, which shocked America that Britney was back in action. She received custody of her two children again making it so much easier to recover from the stupidness she once was. She started creating her new album, “Circus”, which was loved by all of America. She won three awards at the MTV music video awards in 2008, which is a record for the most won awards on that award’s show. But not only did she win these awards, she presented herself well on live television, which hadn’t happened in a very long time. Most of her previous fans commented, “She’s Back!” but Britney replied, “I never left.” In November of 2008 Britney came out with a documentary on MTV entitled “For The Record”, where she set everything straight. This documentary showed a side of Britney we haven’t seen before. It was an emotional documentary, where she expressed everything she went through during her wild journey. As she looked over her life she stated: “What the hell was I thinking?!” But truly, whatever she was thinking previously, and whatever she was doing, she made it. She stayed strong; and most importantly, Britney Spears proved to everyone, that when you fall down all you have to do is find the strength to get back up again. In her song, Circus, she sings; “There's only two types of people in the world; The ones that entertain, and the ones that observe. Well baby I'm a put-on-a-show kinda girl. Don't like the backseat, gotta be first. I'm like the ringleader, I call the shots. I'm like a firecracker, I make it hot. When I put on a show.” Britney Spears definitely put on a show; a show that most people will never forget.

My mother worries that Britney is my inspiration, but she refuses to understand. Maybe it is foolish, but I don’t care. She is my hero because even though she got off track, she found a way to grow up. People screw up, but we aren’t our mistakes. We are our smiles, our laughs, our hearts, our emotions, our mind, and our souls. It sickens me that many people do not give Britney Spears another chance. She is misunderstood, and because of America, she will always remain misunderstood. Britney Spears is my hero, because I have actually allowed myself to understand her. Even though I had to look past all the tabloids and drama that Britney Spears once was, I have concluded that she has taught me so much about life, people, choices, and happiness.