Believe You Can Achieve

A great life, bright future, and a one way trip to success is my main focus. My life has been one wild rollercoaster that consists of all kinds of twists and turns of education, drops of knowledge gained from life lessons, and loops of trouble I went through just to get to where I am now in life. I am slowly beginning to see my adult life shape as I am nearing the end of my high school career. I know it will not be easy, but I am going to go into the adult world with my head held high. Facing the Giants is one movie that changed my point of view of life and gave me the encouragement to keep moving forward.

In that movie, the coach of a football team, who is deep into Christianity, encourages his team to push themselves beyond their limit. With the coach being a highly devoted Christian, the team was being reconstructed under a Christian umbrella. Throughout the movie, we see that as the team believes in themselves and the work of God, anything is possible. The school went from being the underdogs in the football league, to reigning champs. I now believe that when I set my mind on a goal or dream and stay focused on that one goal or dream, I can make it happen; this is true for others.

I have always wanted to play the drums for a church ever since I was about three. Around age five, I had begun taking drum lessons to improve what I had already taught myself. These lessons did not help much because all they taught were the basics. I remember leaving the music school one day and telling myself that I would never get any better. Sunday after Sunday, I would sit behind the drummer during worship and just watch him destroy the drums. Then it happened. It came time for the kids’ choir at church to sing, and I noticed Ray get off of the drum set. He looked at me and handed over the sticks.

At this moment, my drumming career began. I got on the set, and to my advantage, the choir was singing my favorite song. From then on I played every Sunday for the kids’ choir. I am now at a new church, but I still play for the youth services. I have recently enrolled in what some call a “drum fill-in” course. This class teaches me what to do during silent spaces in a song. I sometimes have trouble keeping up with the more advanced drummers, but I continue to keep the messages from the movie in my head.

I learned that practicing and believing in yourself when no one else does can in fact create miracles. I am proof that practice and motivation can make dreams come true. I once believed that I could not become better at drumming, but movies like Facings the Giants allow me to regain that confidence in myself.