Wait a second!
More handpicked essays just for you.
More handpicked essays just for you.
Overcoming adversity essay
Essays on overcoming adversity
Essays on overcoming adversity
Don’t take our word for it - see why 10 million students trust us with their essay needs.
Live for Today Tomorrow, the day after today. It is an indefinite time in the future. One question many people have on their minds is, what does tomorrow hold in store for me? What “if tomorrow never comes”, in the words of a song by the country-artist, Garth Brooks. Could I say I finished everything I started, or did I accomplish everything that I always wanted to do, but never did for fear of it being too risky? No one should feel they did not take the high road in order to enable them to fulfill that one great adventure. Life is full of ups and downs; it could be described as a huge pot of gold with a few dingy stones mixed together. The dingy stones are the few misfortunes one may come across; the gold is what everyone wants, and hopefully attains. To achieve anything, one must take risks and not ask questions regarding tomorrow. I, like many others, could choose to look into a clear, crystal ball and see what the future holds. Instead I decide to look away and be adventurous. This way I get to have the exciting feeling of not knowing what is behind door number three or four. Yes, it is a scary feeling, but also one of hope. Life Experience I had played on the volleyball team all through my junior high days, and was a starter on the “A” freshman team when I reached high school. As a sophomore, I couldn’t believe it when I got the towel thrown in on me. I was devastated when I was cut from the team. Volleyball was my life; I absolutely loved the sport. How could they do this to me? Everyone told me things would turn out fine, but how did they know? A close friend of mine wrote me a letter stating, “I know that right now it is hard to accept the paths that God has chosen for us, but I am sure whatever you decide to do with what has been thrown in your way you can surpass everyone else”. I thought about what that really meant, and decided she was right. I had been thrown something I was not sure what to do with or how to handle, but with a little advice from my brother, Chris, I decided to take a risk and try something new. I chose to become a member of our school’s cross-country team.
Chuck Klosterman’s But What If We’re Wrong? is a book about examining the present as if we are in the future, examining many universally accepted cultural and even scientific beliefs and explaining how they will probably be thought of as absurd to future generations. The interesting thing is that he doesn’t actually say what these beliefs will become because his entire argument is that we simply do not know. The future is completely unpredictable, and the more reasonable it sounds to our present-day ears, the more likely it is to be a false prediction. He says that when examining our perception of the present day as if we are in the future,
Unfortunately life has many hurdles and roads unturned. I do not feel we should regret the mistakes we have made in our past. Or else, we may be too hesitant to make correct choices in our future.
Have you ever experienced an event that was so significant to you that you felt as if your memory was taking a photograph, keeping the memory implanted in your brain for the rest of your life? This is a prime example of flashbulb memory. Flashbulb memory is a term that pertains to a person’s memory of hearing about extremely shocking events (Goldstein, 2011, p. 209). Flashbulb memory is not the memory for the event itself, but it’s the memory of how the person heard about the specific event (Goldstein, 2011, p. 209). This means that a flashbulb memory includes where you were and what you were doing when you found out about a tragic event (Goldstein, 2011, p. 209). Some key attributes of flashbulb memories are that they are both remembered for long periods of time and are exceedingly vivid (Goldstein, 2011, p. 209). A great way to describe flashbulb memories is to compare them to a photo that never fades, proving how relevant these memories are to those who have them (Goldstein, 2011, p. 209).
Even though I can be negative at times, I do have some situations where I think about my future. For example when I decided to leave to independent studies because I was always late, I was having problems at school and at home and it was very hard for me to focus on school. I thought if I left from regular school it could help me become more responsible and it could help me figure out what I wanted to major in. It was in independent studies that I found out that I really wanted to pursue a career in health. Another example where I thought about the future was when I took the CNA class; that is, I took the Certified Nursing Assistant course. At the end of my junior year I decided that I wanted to take the class because I could have better opportunities after high school and in my future career. The instructor Ms. Estrada had a meeting to see how many people were interested; in addition, she gave the class requirements. She said class was from 1:19 to 4:30, we had at least one test every week, and if you fail more than 3 tests you get dropped. At the end of the meeting she gave everyone a packet with medical terms that she wanted us to memorize. On the very first day she was going to test us; moreover, if we failed it we would get dropped. I was chosen to be in the class and it was the longest, most stressful year ever. I was ready to
We were going to win the game. That was the end of it. I knew it. We were the winners of that game. I stood up and yelled in a voice that even frightened me. I didn’t scream about moving our feet, or calling the ball, I screamed about how big of winners we were. I was done with moping. For seven minutes of my life, I had forgotten that I could do anything I set my mind to, and I had given up. The worst seven minutes of my volleyball career were those seven minutes in the third game of the final match at Brighton Volleyball Tournament. I had put my determination down to wallow in my disappointment. Disappointment needs to build determination. I had decided a long time ago that there were certain things in life that I could do better than other people. Those were my gifts. I use my gifts to my full potential.
Some nights I lay awake thinking about the future—thinking about the cities that haven’t been built, the planets that haven’t been found, and the people that I will never get to meet. I am scared for those people.
“Our cultural diversity has most certainly shaped our national character,” affirmed Julie Bishop. From my perception, New York City is one of the most densely inhabited metropolitan collection of cultural diversity in the world in which structures our temperament. New York City applies an imperative influence upon trade, economics, mass communication, skill, style, and education. Frequently it is known that New York City is a crucial core for global politics and has been depicted as the ethnic headquarters of the globe. New York City has been known as a melting pot of culture and as this prolong throughout towards the current day, the city has become ornate with distinct cultures. Just walking around the streets of the city can be like walking around the halls of a cultural museum. From borough to borough, you can straightforwardly experience several features of different cultures by going to the different ethnic neighborhoods that exist throughout the city. For instance, if you wanted to take a trip to China that you've always dreamed of but couldn’t afford it, when living in New York City you can hop on a subway to Canal Street and be in Chinatown for just a few dollars. Certainly, it's not the same as literally being in China, however, you can experience a quantity of the culture and perchance grab some bona fide Chinese food for dinner. Several places holds their culture to denote each individual in New York City, to make an abundant of people to visit and feel each culture one setting at a time.
If I had the chance to go back in time to give advice to myself I would
When I time traveled to the future, it was weird because I went with my sister and with my best friend Layla, but first I will tell you the beginning of the story. When Layla and I were sitting at our desks until our teacher Mrs. Saver showed us a new book called time travel. We both wanted to read the book so we asked Mrs. Sarver if Layla and I could read the book together and Mrs. Sarver told us yes, but we can’t joke around or mess around with each other or she will separate us. When Layla and I went to my house, Layla asked me “wouldn’t you want to travel to the future” and then I got an Idea. I told Layla that she had to go home, but Layla asked me why, so I told her that I had to do my homework, when she left I went to my parent’s
I decided that I wanted to play a sport, I chose volleyball. Most of my friends played the sport so it wasn't hard for me to adjust and make new friends. Becoming a student athlete was a big adjustment for me, I could no longer float through my classes but I need to excel. And that's exactly what I did. For the first time in my high school career I made not only honor roll, but principal’s honor roll. For the first time my mom was proud of my report card, that made me even more proud. From then on I knew I wanted nothing less than what I earned, good grades and a proud family. From my decision to chose to become a student athlete not only make me work harder but, be great at everything I put my mind to. I had motivation to stay successful, to stay eligible. Three years ago if you were to ask me where I thought I would be my senior year, I probably would have told you low level classes barely making it by. Now here I am today excelling in my education preparing to take the next step in my future, college. Even if we don’t understand why we go through them, we have to be willing to let our obstacles become out
We are part of a journey that has been progressing since the beginning of time. However, we as a society always seem to be looking past the present to some climactic end -- the finish line, the future, when in reality, there is no finish line. Society always looks to the future for the answers to today's problems, believing that the future holds something exciting that the present lacks. This is not the way we should be thinking! We should be asking ourselves, "What finish line are we hoping to arrive to?" Or better yet, "Do we want to arrive at a finish line at all?"
Today I question my fears before I give into them. The questioning usually results in nothing that I can rely on as a concrete reason for forgoing an experience.
In my short 16 years there have been many experiences I have encountered in life that shape who I am. My identity today. As time has passed experiences have come one after another for me to learn. What has shaped me influenced me in this short time period are many things the topic around this lies around my social construct. I am a lot of things, I am someone who looks as a shy, quite, smart, nice etc. person. Those simple qualities that make who I am have been influenced upon me and in general just who I am. What has shaped me present day is my family structure and my education the most to shape my identity.
Tonight we stand at a crossroad where each one of use will take a new direction in our life's journey. Walt Whitman said "Not I - not anyone else can travel that road for you. You must travel it for yourself." Where we end up isn't the most important decision, but instead it is the road we choose to take to get there. The road we take is what we will look back on and call our life. Life is a journey of everyday experiences, teaching us moment in, moment out, who we really are. It's important to remember these words "Happiness is to be found along the way, not at the end of the road, for then the journey is over and it is too late."
I remember my mom telling me throughout my life that I would make a great volleyball player, but I never gave it a second thought. Growing up, I had no interest in the sport. However, in September of 2013, the beginning of my 8th grade year, she forced me to go to a travel volleyball