Life can be difficult sometimes. In many occasions people just want to abandon all there past efforts. But what would happen if everyone just stopped trying, just plainly came to a dead halt when an obstacle came in their path? I can tell you for a fact that our country would not be where it is at this moment if it was full of deserters!
I look at people like Thomas Edison, the Wright Brothers, and Albert Einstein. I admire them for their valiant contributions to society and their relentless work ethic. First, the Wright brothers constructed a countless number of model airplanes. They failed over and over again, but in the end they created a masterpiece that modern technology still extracts from today. Thanks to the Wright brothers we can now travel from continent to continent in a number of hours. Second, it is said that Thomas Edison made three thousand light bulbs before he finally fabricated an effective one. This small invention is still very widely used today and just think how life would be if he had given up on his 2999th effort. I don’t know what you think, but I am convinced that this is determination!
When I was twelve, my brother introduced the game of golf to me. At first, I started playing a few holes with him and his friends and it would take me three shots to match their first shots. I would end up holding their group back and I would just have to pick up my ball and head back to the clubhouse. At first I was very frustrated with myself that I couldn’t even hit a little white ball, but I took this frustration and redirected it in a positive manner. I set my mind on the thought of never having to pick up my ball again!
I started going to the golf course nearly everyday to practice building proper swing mechanics. I bought books, made a subscription to golf digest, and purchased new equipment. The first time I completed eighteen holes I shot a 136, that 64 strokes over par! I kept practicing, and I would get the occasional laugh from a bystander when I whiffed the ball, but I didn’t let it get to me. Every month I played, I noticed that my average score was dropping; this made it even more exciting to go and play the next day.
The last four years, I have continued to play this wonderful game. From my hard work ethic and desire to compete, I now shoot within a few strokes of par. In the summer I compete in tournaments against other kids my age I usually place in the better percentage of the field. Last year I got 15th at state out of a field of fifty! My hard work paid off and I also learned a good life lesson from the experience. I believe in overcoming adversity and persevering to obtain one’s full potential.