Heber City student pens inspiring essay about recovery from dog attack


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HEBER CITY — Overcoming our fears and breaking down barriers can be among the greatest challenges of our lives.

An 8th-grader in Heber City recently stared down his fear of dogs after an attack, and in the process he impressed the daughter of one of America's racial pioneers with an essay he wrote for a national contest.

"I decided to overcome my fear and decided to use Mr. Robinson's values of courage and teamwork to accomplish this goal," Drew Becker read from his essay.

The student at Rocky Mountain Middle School in Heber never considered himself an essay writer.

"I wasn't expecting to get this far, at all," he said.

But, when a friend's dog mauled his face a year ago in the school parking lot and left him with 90 stitches, Drew's father urged him to write about his efforts to overcome his fear of dogs.

He shared his story for a national essay contest, "Breaking Barriers: In Sports, In Life, inspired by the life of Jackie Robinson." Breaking Barriers was developed by Major League Baseball, Sharon Robinson, and Scholastic, the global children's publishing, education, and media company.

"It's just an incredible story," said Robinson, daughter of the Hall of Fame baseball player, and Major League Baseball consultant on the essay contest.


He sees that he has to get beyond this obstacle, and he found a way to do it.

–Sharon Robinson, developer of Breaking Barriers


Sharon Robinson, whose father broke the color barrier in baseball, joined Drew's class today, to present him an iPad as a national winner in the essay contest.

"He sees that he has to get beyond this obstacle, and he found a way to do it," said Robinson.

But, it wasn't a simple process. Drew had to persevere to overcome his fear of dogs after the attack.

"I started by walking my neighbor's dog once a week," he wrote in the essay.

Then he found an opportunity to help his community and overcome his fear of dogs at the same time. He befriended the police officer at the local animal shelter and decided to build a storage shed at the shelter for his Eagle Scout project.

That forced him to work around barking dogs, and face his fear. But, the project also enabled him to use the help of his fellow scouts to help, including the boy whose dog had attacked him.

"That was kind of a traumatic experience for me," he said. "But, I needed to turn it into something good because it was my friend's dog."

Sharon Robinson says Drew's essay demonstrates a lot of growth and maturity. That's why it was among ten essays selected as a national winner out of nearly 20,000 entrants.

"It was a really beautiful essay because he also describes friendship because the dog belonged to his best friend," Robinson said. "He did not want this to be a rift between them."

"It's definitely shown me how to react to certain challenges that get in my way," Drew said. His friendship with the other boy was saved.

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