This I Believe

“Let’s go for it,” my grandpa said when he saw the ad to get free land in Australia. The Australian government was giving away homesteads to anyone who cleared the land and planted cotton. My grandpa, Norman Hancock, flew to Australia in 1965 at the end of July. When he got there, he had to sleep under a tree for six weeks because he didn’t have a place to stay. My grandpa worked really hard for six months on his cotton field. He said, “You have to work the hardest for what you want when you are depressed, tired, and homesick.” He said he wanted land so he went for it and didn’t give up.

In my life I have to go for what I want. Some of my hobbies are skiing and wakeboarding. In both of these sports, you have to make goals and go for it.

I was seven years old when I first learned to ski. I remember going up the bunny hill with my Mickey Mouse skis on, thinking how big and steep the hill was. I remember getting to the top and saying, “Mommy I can’t do this.” My mom said, “Don’t worry—just give it a try.” Finally I was convinced and I started down the hill. I fell a lot, but I just kept getting up and trying again. Now I love skiing and it’s one of my favorite sports. All of the hard work and effort really paid off. My grandpa’s hard work and effort paid off, too. There were 30 homesteads like my grandpa’s, and his is the only one that is still owned by its original owners. Now my grandpa leases it out to farmers who grow crops on his land. They harvest many crops, including sugar, cotton, water melons, and cantaloupe.

I believe that if we work hard and have focus, we can do just about anything we set our minds to do. I believe that if we stick to our task and don’t give up, we can accomplish more things in our life than we ever thought we could.