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How do you overcome adversity essay
Overcome adversity
Overcome adversity
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My life quickly became a cruel example of this fundamental concept. I had finally figured out what I wanted to do, and I was on a mission to get there. I ramped up the number of units I was taking. I was working three jobs and going to school full time. I was unstoppable.
BYU Provo: “The Y” Imagine a meager, blonde haired boy with big blue eyes sitting on the floor just a foot away from the mammoth box television, eyes glued to the tv. Imagine that same boy running outside with a football equal in length with his arms, eluding and evading every imaginary defensive player to lead The Cougars to the National Championship Game. Thirteen years later I’ve realized I won’t lead the football team, but my love for the school remains. Brigham Young University- Provo has always been my dream school. I want to major in Finance and the last ranking I saw BYU at was thirty-fourth .
Football has been my favorite sport since I could run. Running free in the grass with friends and family made me appreciate the the quality of life I was blessed to have. Senior year of high school I went from league champions to below .500 records. Lake Winaukee was where the team would prep and practice for the upcoming season. As a senior, I felt I was obliged to help my team win football games and the place we could create chemistry was Lake Winaukee.
Growing up school was never my forte, but I was always taught to be a student-athlete, not just an athlete. And it never made since to me until I got into my junior year in high school when I had to miss football games due to my grades. I always tell myself to live and abide by these quotes, which are: “Those to the left and right of you are who you will most likely to become, so surround yourself around those of the same goals and interest as yourself”. “Success is what you make it”. “You are not finished when you lose, you are only finished when you quit”.
Working together to overcome adversity is a prominent theme in “Life As We Knew It”. This is because there is so much adversity to face in the daily life of Miranda’s family and other people living during their predicament, but they don't have the energy or time to face it alone. They support each other and work together to accomplish important tasks. In fact, one of the main reasons why Miranda’s family survived may be that they helped each other work through problems. Here are a few examples of when Miranda’s family had to work together to overcome adversity.
Signposts and principles A man who comes to realize the secret of really using his will, though today he be poor and lonely, will soon surpass all others. -----Lacordaire "You can do anything you think you can. This knowledge is literally the gift of the gods, for through it you can solve every human problem. It should make of you an incurable optimist.
“You've done it before and you can do it now. See the positive possibilities. Redirect the substantial energy of your frustration and turn it into positive, effective, unstoppable determination. ”- Ralph Marston.
“If you think you can, you can. If you think you can’t you’re right.” Ever since I was young, that remained one of my father’s favorite quotes to say, if it be a disagreement with a friend, or working on long division problem. While growing up, knowing that my siblings had not done quite well in school, and that was one of my biggest incentives to do well. I had grown up on one of the worst sides of town, living in an apartment complex with one of the worst reputations, living off the checks my father brought in from his back disability, and food stamps.
Adversity has affected my life in many different ways, but one specifically was when I was a sophomore. I was in an honors class and my teacher was a big stickler for having your assignments in on time. It was a three-part group project. I remember I had needed to finish one small part of the assignment and then had to go to work, but for some reason as soon as I got home, it had spaced my mind and I didn’t turn any of the assignment in. I then was working the next day and saw some of the classmates I had worked with on the project and they asked if I had turned the assignment in.
After the obstacles he has overcame Walt Disney once said “All the adversity I’ve had in my life, all my troubles and obstacles, have strengthened me… You may not realize when it happens, but a kick in the teeth may be the best thing in the world for you.” Everyone has a time in there life where they need to get passed something that is in there way. When this time or times come everyone would find a way to get through it, whether it is asking for help or doing it on their own. When someone says the word adversity one would say you have to be hard working, determined, and strong would pop into their mind.
As a little boy I had big dreams of playing football. When I was walking in the halls of the intermediate and middle school and saw the high school football players with their jerseys on, they were like super stars. I looked up to them because I wanted to be like them. The high school football players were popular, they were happy, and they were important to the school. Going to the football games on Friday nights was the highlight of my week.
Beginning with my first breath in life, I was fighting for the smallest intake of oxygen to my lungs. This quote forces upon me the remembrance of those times in which I felt as if I hit rock bottom. I am a firm believer in the idea that everything happens for a reason – even when nothing seems to be making sense. With the American Dream, my ideals are encompassed that these trials will prove to be rewarding with time and hard work. My small goals of breathing on my own became larger goals in regards to my academic career.
The exercise we began class with truly opened my eyes to how much I focus on race in both a positive and negative way. I characterize my self as black and Dominican, both groups that have been oppressed by the majority, but by doing so I feel great pride and face adversity. Associating one trait with both the extremes of most problem and one with which I encounter a lot of problems exists as strange. I believe the pride comes from overcoming the adversity and achieving the unthinkable against all odds. Here at UVA, I exist in two of the smallest ethnic groups on grounds.
In the short statement by the poet Horace, he states that adversity, or struggle, can build character. “Adversity has the effect of eliciting talents which in prosperous circumstances would have lain dormant.” Horace claims that in the face of hardship, one can learn, adapt and act accordingly thus awakening skills that would not be present if not faced with the tasks. This claim I believe to not only be true but to also be the reason as to why we have been able to make it so far as a species.
“Stop worrying about what you have to lose, and start focusing on what you have to gain.” That is a quote that I use all of the time, and I think it fits perfectly with this topic. Adversity, I think that we as Americans talk a lot about adversity when we don’t really realize it. All of these 3 passages fit the adversity topic. Everyone has a different mind perspective, they think different about things, act different for other things.