Last Monday, I tried out for the soccer team at school, and I did not make it. I tried my very best and have played soccer my entire life. I feel very defeated and ashamed that I did not make the team. Now, I have nothing to do after school and I do not know whether I should even continue to play soccer. What do you think I should do? Signed, Conner
I recently started working in an office building because my parents claimed that art cannot provide me with a successful life. I feel like an animal trapped in a cage, sitting in these cubicles all day. I miss painting in my apartment, alone to express my own opinions. I cannot stand working here another day, but I feel that I have no other choice. If only art careers paid well. Signed, Claire
I would first like to express that your situation does not mean that you cannot play soccer. With that said, it remains important to keep an open mind about your situation and approach it in a more positive way. When I tried out for the lacrosse team in high school I got cut as well. Of course, it hurt me to think that a sport that I loved might not remain in my life. However, as I assessed the situation, I realized that maybe lacrosse did not make me happy. This realization led me to a yoga class as I still wanted to remain active. Now, I go to yoga four times during the week and I love going. Yoga has led me to establish myself as more open minded and help me manage my stress. Therefore, whether or not you decide to keep practicing for next year’s season or find a new passion, your success comes when you find happiness in the activity.
You should explain to your parents that you do not feel like yourself at your new job. If money remains the only reason as to why you put up with horrible treatment and feeling lost, you should leave. Money does not determine your success, happiness and progression do. If you feel happier painting in your apartment then you should pursue that career. You should not force yourself to go to work everyday and not feel happy. I believe that in order to find the right job, you must first find what you love and turn that into your job. Since you have already found your passion, you need to stick with it. However, if your parents do not understand, you must not rely on money for success because money will never buy you success if you do not remain happy. You need to do what makes you happy and as long as you have done that you will find success, no matter the income.
Dear Conner,
Dear Claire,
Elizabeth Blackwell remains an extremely important figure in the world of modern medicine. Blackwell, born in 1821 in England, lived in a family with nine children. At the time, women could not obtain a higher education and society expected them to work in the house while dedicating their worth to their husbands. However, Blackwell possessed the determination to break these boundaries for women. Growing up in a fairly wealthy family, Blackwell received tutoring in her home. However, due to the Cholera epidemic in England, her father moved her family to New York City in America. There, Blackwell continued her studies of reading, German, French, music, and art. Life in America proved great for Blackwell until her family became impoverished as a result of her father’s unexpected death of a tick bite. Blackwell first relished at the thought of becoming a doctor after a visit with her friend who suffered from cancer and complained about the difficulty of getting treatment from a male doctor. Appalled by the greater influence of males on her and the world, she decided to pursue medical training. Following her decision she consulted with many doctor associates, as well as Harriet Beecher Stowe; they all encouraged her to pursue medicine, but warned against the impossible barriers for women and strong prejudices. Despite these barriers, Blackwell continued her journey stating “the idea of winning a doctor’s degree gradually assumed the aspect of a great moral struggle, and the moral fight possessed immense attraction for me” (Khalsa).
At 24, Blackwell obtained a teaching job to aid in paying for her medical education. In her free time, Blackwell studied medicine from books she rented from the library. After two years, she raised enough to apply to college. Blackwell applied to the top four colleges in Philadelphia, but never received a single acceptance letter. Despite her rejection, Blackwell continued to study anatomy and attended lectures with Dr. Joseph Warrington. With his help, Blackwell continued to apply to every school in Philadelphia and New York, but again faced rejection. Finally, Geneva Medical college accepted Blackwell. Although she got accepted to a college, she continued to receive prejudice from fellow classmates and townspeople; many even claimed she classified as mental or insane. However, despite constant prejudice, Blackwell became head of her class even after entering halfway through the year. Finally, in January of 1849, 28-year old Blackwell received her medical degree. However, Blackwell stilled faced challenges as the medical community banned her from practicing medicine. Angered by the discrimination, Blackwell moved to Europe, only to find more prejudice there. Years later she received an internship in England at St.Bartholomew’s Hospital which eventually led her back to New York. There, Blackwell fulfilled her dream by opening her own practice: The New York Infirmary for Women and Children. Blackwell’s legend lives on and continues to inspire all women doctors.
The Glass Castle by Jeannette Walls
The Glass Castle, Jeannette Walls’s 2005 non fiction memoir, tells the story of the journey to happiness and success. Walls begins her memoir reminiscing on her childhood and her family. Walls faced many financial problems as her father refused to obtain a stable job, causing her to live in dilapidated houses. As Jeannette grew older, she became more aware of her potential and grew disgusted at the thought of living like her father. With that motivation, Jeannette decided to pursue her dream of writing and moved to New York City. There, she established a name for herself and wrote her first novel: The Glass Castle. After accomplishing her dream she felt over the moon, as she had finally made her life a success. However, as she became surrounded by riches and fame, she realized that money did not make her happy, nor did it contribute to her success. Realizing this, transitioned to a more peaceful life. (Walls). Now, she lives a happy, successful life free from stress of money, yet doing what she loves everyday.
Wonder by R.J Palacio
Auggie Pullman, the main character of R.J Palacio’s 2012 novel Wonder, struggles with Treacher Collins syndrome which cause him to have many facial deformities. Due to his rare disease, Auggie’s mother homeschooled him for the first years of his life. However, as Auggie approaches middle school, his parents decide to send Auggie to Beecher Prep. As Auggie prepares to attend his new school, he feels anxious about how other students will behave around him. Throughout his whole life, everyone looked and treated Auggie differently. Unfortunately, he received the same treatment from his fellow classmates, and one boy in particular, Julian, began bullying Auggie for his deformities. As Auggie progresses through his first year in middle school, he faces challenges with his friends, but eventually finds Jack and Summer. Auggie remains true to himself and encourages his friends to like him with all of his imperfections. At the end of Auggie’s first school year, his principal awards him with the Henry Ward Beecher medal for an exemplary student. In the end, Auggie finds success in both his friendships and school work as he remains happy and able to overcome his own boundaries (Palacio).
Out of these two inspirational read, I would choose The Glass Castle as it encourages me to live my life constantly working towards my goal. It also, teaches me to surround myself with things that I love and make me a better person. Walls also appeals to me as she tells her story so truthfully and does not leave our the struggles of everyday life. Even though I do not live a life that Jeannette lived as a child, her journey from rags to riches illustrates how one can achieve their goal if they remain determined and do what makes them happy.
Everyone knows the famous Disney World as the place where dreams come true, but Walt Disney’s world of dreams did not come easily. Disney faced many complications in his early career, but with hard work and dedication he built the famously creative world. In his early life, Disney participated in drawing classes and played an important role of the cartoonist for his high school’s paper. After dropping out of high school to go into the military, his rejection from the military led him to Kansas City to follow his dream of a newspaper artist. After he got fired for his lack of creativity, he finally found a suitable job. Working for the Kansas City Film Ad Company, Disney became fascinated with animation and film. His experience with the Kansas City Film Ad Company allowed him to pursue his own company: Laugh-O-Gram. However, lacking proper business strategies, Laugh-O-Gram went bankrupt. His failure here led him to Hollywood in hopes of greater luck. In Hollywood, Disney teamed up with his brother, Roy, to create Disney studios. With his growing popularity, Disney received many opportunities to work with major companies. However, when the famous Universal asked him to work on a project, he rejected because hes did not reel the project represented his company’s happy image. Continuing his dream, Disney created the infamous Mickey Mouse; he then received his first Academy Award in 1932. Once Disney created infamous films such as Snow White and the Seven Dwarf” and received
a record of 59 nomination for Academy Awards, Disney dreamt up the idea of a magical theme park: Disneyland. Now, Disneyland brings in tourists from around the world to experience the magic of Walt Disney. However, Disney dedicated his success to his failure, claiming “All the adversity I’ve had in my life, all my troubles and obstacles, have strengthened me… You may not realize it when it happens, but a kick in the teeth may be the best thing in the world for you” (Pettinger). Without Disney’s failures, the world would experience the happiness and creativity that it does today. Now, Disney advocates for perseverance through failures. Disney encourages young children and failures to use their struggles to their advantages, causing them to push through until they reach their goals. With the production of the dreamworld, Disneyland, Disney inspires young children to follow their dreams with the fantasy land’s motto: “Where dreams come true.” Disney also inspires in ways that disregard money as a way to determine success. Throughout his journey to the most magical man on Earth, Disney worried only on his happiness and achieving his dream, not how much money he would make. Now, Disney’s famous Disneyland reveals these ideals as the world focuses on happiness and dreams. Disney’s success story still lives on, allowing people to use his story as guidelines for their own success.
Forest Bookman, 47, describes his experience with success as he explains what remains necessary to provide himself and his family with a healthy life. Q: What constitutes as your greatest success? A: My greatest success remains bearing life to three healthy children. Healthy children, while they may seem common, do not prove statistically true. Having children remains challenging to begin with, however, claiming to have three healthy children remains extraordinary. Despite the difficulty children may present, my three children continue to remind me of my success and make me happy everyday. Q: Do you feel you have reached success? Why or why not? A: No, I do not feel I have reached my true success. Success does not remain a destination, rather a journey; the journey prevails as an evolution of ongoing attempts, failures, and achievements that recur throughout all tests of realization. I do, however, believe I have reached multiple miniature successes that will aid in my ultimate success. Q: Do you ever feel you will reach success and what would that look like? A: Yes, I feel that I will eventually reach my true success and potential. My true success mirrors that of the necessary energy that one needs to deliver satisfactory results. However, I also understand that once I reach my ultimate success, I will continue to work in the direction of making my success satisfactory in regards to the time in my life that I remain.
Q: Do you base your success on money? If not, what? A: I definitely consider money as a component of success, but moreover, emotions drive the reality of success. I believe that once I feel emotions of confidence, admiration, and pride, I may reach success. Q: What constitutes as your greatest failure? Did you persevere after it to achieve your goal? A: My greatest failure remains my change in career direction. Due to my realization that satisfaction outweighed the career’s particular outcome, I successfully achieved to greater success and found more satisfaction in my decision. Although the process of the career change pressured me, I eventually found the happiness that I desired in the new career. Q: Have you ever had to sacrifice money for happiness in terms of success? A: Yes, I had to sacrifice my yearning for money during the career change. My decision for making this sacrifice revolves around me feeling that satisfaction and happiness remained more important than financial stability. Following the hardships in my transition, I knew that I had reached success when I could remain happy and present around my family, providing them with happy and healthy lives. I feel that my experience during this change in career remains essential for my children to learn; I encourage them to do what they love everyday, even if that means sacrificing other needs.
Hanna Bookman
Hanna Bookman, a junior at Chagrin Falls High School, strives to reach success everyday. However, Bookman has not always received such stellar grades in school. Her sophomore year challenged her with her first two AP classes; she faced such an experience that led her to find her success. In her AP US History class, she received the first F she had ever received in her school career. Devastated by her newly obtained failing grade, she felt defeated and wanted to drop the course as she felt she could not handle the rigor. After conversing with her teacher, she decided that with hard work and help, she could get her grade back up and eventually find success in the class. Sure enough, Bookman dedicated her time to reading and studying for every test and seeking help from her teacher when needed. In the end, her hard work paid off as she obtained an A in her class and passed the AP exam. Even though Bookman found success in her school work, she does not base success on how popular or how much money she has; rather, Bookman believes that success occurs when one perseveres in order to meet their goal and find happiness. Bookman first found her success in relation to happiness following a devastation. After getting cut from her high school lacrosse team, she searched for something to occupy her time after school. In her search, Bookman encountered a career that at first remained only a way to make money. However, after three years of working there, she has learned
many life skills and now has a new passion and potential job career. After working for a Naturopathic Doctor as an assistant, she has obtained a greater desire to consider the medical field as a career. Now, while looking for colleges, she greatly considers what they have to offer for pre-med students. In her quest for success following getting cut from her lacrosse team, she also found Life Act. Bookman has worked on the Life Act Youth Advisory Board for three years now and recently earned the title of president. Bookman believes she has found success in this aspect as she works to end the epidemic of suicide and depression. Bookman believes her success stems from having an open mind set and living everyday to the best of her ability. When faced with a devastation, Bookman remembers her mother’s advice, “when one door closes, another opens; you just have to find out where it lies.” Bookman uses her mother's advice everyday, whether she receives a poor grade on a test, or she faces a new tragedy. The key to success still remains the progression towards one’s goals to ultimately reach happiness. Bookman lives everyday trying to meet her own goals and strives to live the happiest of lives possible.
Works Cited Carpenter, Tad. “Wonder.” Wonder the Book, Alfred A. Knopf, 2012, wonderthebook.com/about. Hetzel, Tracy. “You Shouldn't Have.” Long Blue Straw, Graphic Essentials, 17 Dec. 2012, https://goo.gl/7WpYxR. Kambouris, Dimitrios. “Writer Jeannette Walls Attends the 'The Glass Castle' New York Screening at SVA Theatre on August 9, 2017 in New York City.” Getty Images, Getty Images, 9 Aug. 2017, https://goo.gl/3823eW. Khalsa, Sita. “Elizabeth Blackwell, M.D., America's First Female Doctor.” Amazing Women In History, Amazing Women in History, 11 Sept. 2016, www.amazingwomeninhistory.com/elizabeth-blackwell-first-female-doctor/. Kozlowski, Joseph S. “Elizabeth Blackwell, M. D.” New York Heritage Digital Collections, CONTENTdm, 7 July 2010, Health Sciences Library at SUNY Upstate Medical University, https://goo.gl/9RnHXy. Null, Gary. “Mickey Mouse.” Getty Images, NBC, 4 May 1988, https://goo.gl/NfErhM. Palacio, R. J. Wonder. Alfred A. Knopf, 2012. Pettinger, Tejvan. “Walt Disney Biography.” Biography Online, Biography Online, 1 Mar. 2017, www.biographyonline.net/artists/walt-disney.html. Portfolio, Mondadori. “Walt Disney With A Mickey Mouse Puppet.” Getty Images, Getty Images, 1950, https://goo.gl/wVrvDg. Walls, Jeannette. The Glass Castle. Scribner, 2005.