Throughout my life, I experienced many events that would make most people unable to function socially, emotionally, or academically. These events include two divorces, five house relocations, and a transfer to a new high school during senior year. I consistently failed assignments and could not stay focused during class as my . Most teenagers would have given up here as the disappointment from both their parents and teachers would have destroyed their hopes for a successful future. However, this anguish became a catalyst for what would become a significant restructuring in both my demeanor towards schoolwork and my perspective on the future. Against all odds I was able to bounce back from the discouragement I had faced. I believe that this…
Famous philosopher, Marcus Cicero, believes that, “The greater the difficulty, the greater the glory.” There is always people who get crushed by their difficulty everyday there is someone who struggles because whatever they are doing is difficult for them. Most people who are alcoholics almost never get sober because they love drinking. They might say that they are going to stop but they are likely to not stop. Difficulty makes people feel bad about them because they quit at what they are doing because it is to hard for them. Difficulty also sometimes makes people want to kill them self’s. It makes them do this because they are tired of doing what they can’t do. Therefore, difficulty is not an excuse for failure.…
If I was given the opportunity to speak in front of a crowd I would talk about the importance of setting goals in your life. I believe success comes from meeting the goals you have strived to obtain. When I was younger and just starting to grasp the concept of doing things on my own, the word success was very forbidding to me. I wanted to be successful and to make people around me proud, but I wasn’t sure how to go about achieving such things. I never just sat down and thought about what exactly I needed to do to make me successful, I just knew I wanted success out of life. If I had the chance to talk to a younger generation, or maybe even older people who are still struggling, I would tell them to take some time, sit down, and seriously think about what specific things they needed to do that would make them successful in life. The things they would write would ultimately become the small goals that would help them achieve their \\\\\\\larger goal. When you have goals set in your life, the only thing left to do is go get them done! Yes, I know this is the hard part, but when you actually have goals defined in your life, you wake up every morning knowing exactly what you’re working towards. You strive for specific opportunities or instances that someday make you successful. You go after your…
Deresiewicz references Harry R. Lewis, a former Harvard dean, who wrote how all the college students refuse to take a chance on a new class that they might not do well in because they are afraid of failure. They are unable to venture into the unknown because if they fail, other students will judge them and deem them as inferior because of the competition in the environment. In David Sedaris’ Me Talk Pretty One Day, the narrator recounts his experience at a language school in France. He had a harsh teacher, who would shame and insult her students as they tried to speak and understand French. This lead to feelings of confidence and fear in the students because they constantly felt like they were failing. However, at the end of the passage, the narrator realises that through all the failures in class, he is finally able to understand everything the teacher said and became hungry for more knowledge about the French language. Sedaris’ story demonstrates the benefits of failing because if there is failure, there is effort to improve, to explore uncharted territory, and to discover more knowledge…
David Sedaris' experience of being the odd man out in his French class can relate to most of us. His miscommunication about the Easter rabbit with his French teacher was funny to the reader, but it was an embarrassing moment for him at that time. I can remember being unsure of myself plenty of times in class, especially when I didn't quite know something, and ended up making a fool of myself. Sometimes having a disagreement over a topic can happen with our teachers, but it would be embarrassing for us if we were wrong. Things can also happen inside the classroom with your peers, and teacher that would land you in a sticky situation but become a funny story when looking back at it. I can recall a time when I was the odd woman in a situation…
Having grown up in a single parent home with two sisters who did not complete high school, made the pressure for me to succeed unimaginable. The constant reminder of achieving greatness has stuck with me since I was eight years old. Throughout middle school I was top of my class, in high school I graduated cum laude with a 4.4 GPA and currently in my 1st year of college I am top of my intermediate/college algebra class, I scored the highest grade out of all 5 of my psychology teachers classes, and I have an A in my Philosophy class. My educational goals consist of gaining knowledge throughout my entire life, achieving higher than my goals, being as involved as I can possibly be with my college/ community, and continuing to prosper. Ever since…
Having goal and determination should be the stimulus for people who really need to be successful in their life. It takes time and sacrifices, it could be painful at the beginning, but when it comes to the result, it could be…
It’s easy to make a goal rather than to achieve it. However, with determination one can succeed in accomplishing it. I have accomplished one of many goals in my list and that's to attend college. In my family not a lot attended college or even finished high school, so accomplishing this goal is a big subject of matter to my family.Getting this far is even a big accomplishment in my eye’s, especially when you break free from an assembly line of generations that never had attended college. The feeling is still overwhelming, mainly because I’m the first of many generations in my family to accomplish something big like…
I continue to make goals for myself and continue to achieve my goals. I will carry forward striving for the best. I use to just give up but I realize that doesn’t make me any better. Some of the things I think about when I just want to give up is,“You have the patience, the strength and the passion to meet your ambitions your goals and your dreams. All you need to do now, is try.”also “What you get by achieving your goals is not as important as what you become by achieving your goals.” I had to really think about what it really meant but now I…
Later on I realized it wasn’t right for me to throw away what my parents worked so hard to give me: an education. I told myself to keep trying hard, so that I wouldn't fail a grade. I was determined to have the better life my parents wanted me to have.…
In the Greek tragedy Antigone, the playwright Sophocles developed his characters with strongly contrasting personalities. The sisters Antigone and Ismene are foils to each other, in that they are characters with completely opposite personalities. Antigone is strong, stubborn, and stands up for what she believes in, while Ismene is weak, obedient to the law, and very passive. Throughout the play, Antigone and Ismene display their opposing beliefs and personalities.…
I always answer I am fine, anything is okay when people ask me how is your school. I decide my own schedule to college, but there are always two classes have the same time and I need a ride to back home and school. I didn’t pass my English class at the first quarter. I am lonely in college because most students like me go to school, work, and then home. We won’t have time to talk to each other face to face. I have to take care my own stuff, follow the syllabus and be an adult since I am not high school anymore. Some of my professor teaches differently and is not making sense to me so I have to retake my class again. There are many problems I have in college, but I never give up myself. I remember, “Failure is the mother of success”. This quarter, I am rethinking about myself learning methods to fit into my professor teaching style and join the international student club. After all my classes done, I stay school one or two hours to meet with my new friends do homework together. I realize overcome is not just a noun, it is also an action I have to do it instead spin around. My friend, family, and relatives are all support me to overcome bad things to get my bachelor…
After months of feeling lonely, I became determined to work on my English and prove these kids wrong. The journey was extremely stressful, but I overcame the difficulties and soon enough my English improved, and what I thought was going to be the worst time of my life became a time where I was most proud of myself. I believe that this conversion encouraged me to be a hardworking and studious person. With such ambitions to succeed in my career, I am fully confident that no matter what hardships come my way throughout college, I will be able to not only overcome them but become a stronger person as…
In today’s world, a college education is the cornerstone of life. Obtaining a college degree opens many doors of opportunity. These building blocks of opportunity will help shape who I am as a person. I am building a future, striving for success, and always looking to better myself. Abraham Lincoln once said “Always bear in mind that your own resolution to succeed is more important than any other.” I have been haunted by similar words, in my own head, for quite some time. I never finished college, yet I love to learn. I have always dreamed of completing college, owning a company, or working in an office. Now, given the opportunity, completing this degree will become my greatest achievement. Until now, I have always felt that I let myself down. I’ve always had the best intentions, but life’s unexpectedness put several roadblocks in the way of me completing a degree. I graduated high school twenty-five years ago. Since then, I have raised a family and have unfulfilling employment. Being able to attend college and complete this degree which I am embarking upon is important to me because I have matured into the person I want to be.…
As I moved to a new country it became even more difficult for me to write because it was in a different language and a different alphabet. I moved from Ethiopia when I was twelve years old and was enrolled in middle school right away. As panicked as I was the first day of class I was more frightened of what was to come. Every time my English teacher gave us a writing assignment I used to say I can’t do it and always use the excuse that I was from another country. Ms. Rodriguez came to me one day and told me that by saying I can’t I am making myself weak. I need to get up and start to do the stuff she has been teaching us. That comment really upset me, How could she say that to me? I just came to this country and I do not know anything. The next day she gave me a journal, she told me to write everything down. Each day at the end of the day to write what happened to me. I was so upset at her I did not even open the journal. Day after day she asked if I started to write in my journal. I was so tired of the excuses I made for me not doing anything, so I started to write in my…