2 of my journals from another class

1. Okine 1
Christopher Okine
Professor Pierce
Educational Planning 1103
14 July 2015
Peter Parker’s Miraculous Transformation
Transitioning from high school to college can be a huge challenge as many students and
former students know. You go from knowing what to expect in your daily commutes to each of
your six or seven classes in high school and having a sense of being guided and your hand held
to practically being placed on an island with supplies, food, and water but no instructions on
what to do with it except utilize it by your own judgement. The fictional character Peter Parker,
also known as Spider-Man, experienced this first hand from being a teenager to a young adult.
That’s why he is a favorite to not only me but many other people, even though he’s a superhero,
there is still a side of him that is completely relatable. In the beginning of his character’s
storyline, he underwent the transformation that made him in to the web slinging hero we all
know and love, but as time passed all the way up to today he underwent a deeper transformation
of individuality.
One thing about Peter that is first noticed by most is the gift of his advanced intellect,
which would later be amplified when he gains his power. His understanding and interest in
science was however one of the things that brought him problems in high school. Like anyone
who put education over their social standing in school, he was often taunted by his peers most
notably by the football star of his school, Flash Thompson. On top of that he also had the
responsibility of helping his Aunt May and Uncle Ben around the house. This always stuck out
to me and I appreciated it because unlike other superheroes like Batman or Superman who were

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already somewhat established adults, Peter was a teenager going through high school just like
any other teenager. Then the fateful day came where the radioactive spider escaped from his
boundaries to bite Peter which essentially gave him the proportionated speed and strength of an
arachnid and the ability to cling to most surfaces. He would then put his brain to work and
develop dual web shooters, dawn a costume and the title of “The Amazing Spider-Man.” Now
that he has been blessed with amazing powers all of his worries became a thing of the past right?
Wrong. Despite becoming a hero, he was alas still a teenager going to working to make his way
through high school except this time he had the outside responsibility of fighting crime and
major endangerments to his city. One can imagine the amount of stress that he was constantly
under all the way up to becoming a biophysics major at Empire State University, where he ran
into even more problems both in his school life, his family life, his work life as a photographer
for the Daily Bugle under employment of the always daunting J. Jonah Jameson, and the life he
put on the line every time he put on his costume to fight evil. Despite all of this he was still able
to keep his feet in motion and graduate from college with his desired knowledge of biophysics
and a better understanding of his own powers. Therefore making a stellar inspiration for a
college student like me.
Focusing more on the superhero aspect of his life, Parker without a doubt had a new
obstacle, if not many new obstacles, practically every day of his life. One notable transformation
that made him into the individual he is today was the death of his uncle. Moments before this
happened, Peter had a lapse in responsibility and neglected to stop a criminal out of spite for
someone who did him wrong. This later would result in that same criminal robbing and
murdering his Uncle Ben in cold blood. Luckily for Peter, Uncle Ben passed down words of
advice that would stick with Peter for the rest of his life, “With great power comes, greater

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responsibility.” After later finding the criminal and wrathfully exacting revenge, Peter had a sort
of epiphany and once again thought of his uncle’s wise words. At this point, he realized the true
meaning of his powers. He realized that he had a choice, either become selfish and use his
powers for his own self gain or use his powers to make sure that no one else had to go through
the loss he had to experience. Fortunately, he chose to go the latter route and used his strength
and knowledge to contribute to New York City by doing what a normal human being isn’t
capable of. Examples being rescuing people from burning buildings when firemen couldn’t,
effortlessly defeating groups of thugs and criminals most of the time being anywhere from at
least 5 of them to 1 of him, and fighting supervillains who unlike him chose to use their powers
to further their evil agendas. One of these villains would later be revealed to be his all-time arch
nemesis, the Green Goblin. The conflict between the two put a huge strain on Peter’s personal
life when it became known that the Green Goblin’s true identity is Norman Osborn, father to
Harry Osborn who happened to meet Peter in college and became best friends with him. In an
attempt to shake Peter to his core, Green Goblin took a low blow by taking Peter’s college
girlfriend Gwen Stacy, and throwing her off the George Washington Bridge. Sadly, in Peter’s
rescue attempt, he shot a string of web to save Gwen from the fall but the resulting whiplash that
stopped her fall so suddenly is what killed her life. Even though the death of Gwen was indeed
heartbreaking, he worked through the tragedy and stayed true to his responsibility fully aware
that the Green Goblin, who would later accidently end his own life fighting Spider-Man shortly
after the bridge incident, may have been the first supervillain that he battled but there were many
more to come. Villains like, Dr. Octavious (Doctor Octopus), Mysterio, The Vulture, Electro,
and Spidey’s own alien symbiotic black suit that clung to him until he practically ripped it off of
his body for it to find Eddie Brock and together become yet another villain named Venom,

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among others would eventually be stopped numerous times by Peter’s valiant efforts and develop
a personal vendetta with him to the point that many villains conspire together to end his life.
Peter also knew that Gwen’s death was not his first lost and considering the heroic path he chose,
is wouldn’t be his last. That being said, with every painful loss he encountered in his storyline he
still was able to stand tall and learn from the grave misfortune and continue to be a hero.
The thing I admire the most about Peter Parker/Spider-Man is the fact that no matter how
much he had on his plate, he always stuck it out to the end and stood triumphant. He wasn’t born
with a huge fortune nor did he have a company passed down to him like Tony Stark (Iron Man)
or Bruce Wayne (Batman). Even though Peter had amazing abilities and features, they had limits
unlike Clark Kent/Kal-El (Superman) who had overwhelming powers like heat vision, super
strength and speed, ice breath, the ability to fly, enhanced hearing, the unlimited source of
energy being the sun which gave Superman more power the more he absorbed the yellow sun
rays of Earth’s sun and the list of what he is capable of goes on. Clearly getting bit by a
radioactive spider in real life is highly unlikely to give you super powers, let alone not make you
deathly ill, but regardless, Peter Parker will forever remain known as one of the most relatable
superheroes of all time because being a hero didn’t stop him from his human responsibilities.
This eventually transformed him into an individual who could bring both the lives of Peter
Parker and Spider-Man in harmony. This reason in itself is why he has been and will always be
an inspiration to me and many others.