The Biographical Hero's Journey of Mark Zuckerberg by Jae Young Kim

Profile of the Hero - Characterization of the hero BEFORE the journey:

dh_jkim6 — 2013-10-21 05:48:09 UTC

Born on May 14, 1984, Mark Zuckerberg's childhood years were very different than most of ours. He had an interest in computer programming at an early age, so he began writing his own programs in the sixth grade. Since he had so many amazing talented skills, he transferred out of his public school in his sophomore year to a private boarding school, Philips Exeter Academy. He transferred to this private boarding school because his old public school, Ardsley High School, didn't have many computer classes or more challenging math classes, so he chose to transfer to this private boarding school. In the fall of 2002, he enrolled into the Harvard University. He got in some trouble during his two years at that school. He opened two programs, Coursematch and Facemash. Coursematch was innocent, but Facemash was not allowed because it was illegally accessing the Harvard computer system to get student's photos. However, he brainstormed the idea to create a program that will now change his life. He decided to create "Facebook" . He opened thefacebook.com in his dormitory room on February 4, 2004. Within just two weeks, it had more than 4,000 registered users among Harvard students, faculty members, and alumni. The evidence shows this step of the hero's journey by showing how he changed before the journey and after the journey. For example, he was a smart student who was unaware of his amazing skills relating to computer programming but then after the journey he realized his true potential. He returned to the ordinary world with a gift of realization of his computer programming skills.

Source Citation:

"Mark Zuckerberg." Wikipedia. Wikimedia Foundation, 19 Oct. 2013. Web. 22 Oct. 2013. <http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Mark_Zuckerberg>.

"Mark Zuckerberg." Newsmakers. Vol. 2. Detroit: Gale, 2008. Student Resources In Context. Web. 21 Oct. 2013.

The Separation

dh_jkim6 — 2013-10-21 06:11:45 UTC

Mark Zuckerberg first opening Facebook starts the "journey" for him. He enters out of the ordinary world into the unordinary world when he drops out of Harvard University to continue programming Facebook, which soon became an $80 billion company. The ordinary world for Mark Zuckerberg is his college, Harvard University. He starts his journey once he drops out of college, and then he enters the unordinary world when he first opens Facebook. Mark Zuckerberg did not return to Harvard after he dropped out. Instead, he went to Palo Alto, California and established a corporate office. Over time, facebook.com slowly grew. As it grew, it allowed high school students to join Facebook in 2005. Then in 2006 it allowed anyone to join over the age of 13, which greatly increased the amount of registered users. By late 2007, an estimated 150,000 new users were joining Facebook every day. The evidence shows this step of the hero's journey because it's showing what starts his journey in becoming the CEO of this excelling company.

Source Citation:

"Mark Zuckerberg." Newsmakers. Vol. 2. Detroit: Gale, 2008. Student Resources In Context. Web. 21 Oct. 2013.

The Initiation: Accomplishments #2

dh_jkim6 — 2013-10-21 06:17:16 UTC

Accomplishments

Mark Zuckerberg Finds Giving Spirit, Donates $500 Million To Silicon Valley Community Foundation

Source Citation:

Mac, Ryan. "Mark Zuckerberg Finds Giving Spirit, Donates $500 Million To Silicon Valley Community Foundation." Forbes. Forbes Magazine, 18 Dec. 2012. Web. 21 Oct. 2013. <http://www.forbes.com/sites/ryanmac/2012/12/18/mark-zuckerberg-finds-giving-spirit-pledges-nearly-500-million-to-silicon-valley-education/>.

The Initiation: Accomplishments #1

dh_jkim6 — 2013-10-21 06:18:34 UTC

Accomplishments

In December of 2010, Mark Zuckerberg joined the Giving Pledge, a group founded by Warren Buffet and Bill Gates, pledging to donate at least half of his fortune to charity. He also pledged $100 million to the Newark, New Jersey, public school system earlier that year.

Source Citation:

"Mark Zuckerberg." Newsmakers. Vol. 2. Detroit: Gale, 2008. Student Resources In Context. Web. 21 Oct. 2013.

"Mark Zuckerberg Pledges Most of $6 Billion Fortune to Charity." CBSNews. CBS Interactive, n.d. Web. 21 Oct. 2013. <http://www.cbsnews.com/8301-503983_162-20025110-503983.html>.

Reflection

dh_jkim6 — 2013-10-22 02:35:26 UTC

After reading about Mark Zuckerberg, I realized that the theme of his story is to never give up and to always persevere. The message all humans can appreciate by learning about the person is that Mark Zuckerberg followed his dream, by persevering and really try his best to accomplish this dream. This shows that dreams really come true if you try hard to accomplish it. In order for a person to become a hero, the most important trait to have is

The Initiation: Accomplishments #3

dh_jkim6 — 2013-10-22 02:38:19 UTC

Facebook is currently at 1.06 billion monthly active users. In addition to a 25% increase in monthly users from last year and a 28% rise in daily users, Facebook saw 57% growth in mobile monthly users.

In September, Facebook reached 1 billion monthly active users. In addition, Facebook said that last year it logged 1.13 trillion "likes," 219 billion photos uploaded, and had 604 million mobile users.

Source Citation:

Tam, Donna. "Facebook by the Numbers: 1.06 Billion Monthly Active Users." CNET News. CBS Interactive, 30 Jan. 2013. Web. 21 Oct. 2013. <http://news.cnet.com/8301-1023_3-57566550-93/facebook-by-the-numbers-1.06-billion-monthly-active-users/>.

The Return

dh_jkim6 — 2013-10-22 03:04:47 UTC

Mark Zuckerberg goes back to the ordinary world when he continues his work in making Facebook better. He returns to the ordinary world with a gift of the realization of his computer programming skills, and world-wide recognition for creating this brilliant website which helps people around the world connect and communicate over the internet. Mark Zuckerberg starts contributing to the ordinary world he left behind by leading this $80 billion company as CEO. The evidence shows this step of Mark Zuckerberg's hero's journey because in this stage, he is returning to the ordinary world by continuing this website by improving it.

"Facebook has made both a positive and negative impact on young and old users. It has changed the way we communicate, the way companies conduct business, and the way we spend our time. According to ComScore, a market research firm, "social networking is the most popular online activity worldwide, accounting for nearly one in every five minutes spent online." (Source Citation: "Facebook." Gale Student Resources in Context. Detroit: Gale, 2012. Student Resources In Context. Web. 21 Oct. 2013. paragraph 8)

Facebook has made a big impact on society by changing the way of communication as this world gets more and more advanced in technology. The

Source Citation:

"Facebook." Gale Student Resources in Context. Detroit: Gale, 2012. Student Resources In Context. Web. 21 Oct. 2013.

The Initiation: The Hero's Abyss

dh_jkim6 — 2013-10-22 03:10:25 UTC

The climax of the hero's journey of Mark Zuckerberg's life is when he confronts his greatest challenge - facing disapproval from the Facebook users. Throughout his business, he faces many lawsuits against him, and also many people share their disapproval of Facebook. Mark Zuckerberg knew that he would face these challenges, but he still perseveres and works to make Facebook to run at it's optimum performance. This is the challenge that solidifies Mark Zuckerberg as a hero to many members of society. He stands as a role model in this situation because he shows true character - perseverance and the desire to make things better. The evidence shows this step of the hero's journey by showing how after he changed in character after he faced his greatest challenge.

Source Citation:

Grossman, Lev. "Person of the Year." TIME.com. TIME, 15 Dec. 2010. Web. 22 Oct. 2013. <http://content.time.com/time/specials/packages/article/0,28804,2036683_2037183_2037185,00.html>.

The Initiation: The Hero's Abyss (Continued)

dh_jkim6 — 2013-10-22 04:07:08 UTC