Perseverance Is The Essence Of Boyhood

I believe that when you persevere you can accomplish countless things. When someone says perseverance, I believe that people automatically think about working hard and getting rewards after. While working hard is a big part in it, there is more to it. I am going to share a couple of stories that will hopefully change your mind about perseverance.

The article “How Boys Become Men” written by Jon Katz, gives a positive statement on how boys still haven’t change and are still growing up the same. Jon Katz, shares with us while walking his dog one day, he saw a boy get beaten by a group of older boys. While walking towards him, Katz asked if he was okay; the boy said yes and begun to swing like nothing happened. I believe that what Jon Katz states is true, because the fact is; boys are always going to think they’re the Alpha Male in every situation. For example: who can climb the highest Rock, who can make a bigger splash in the pool or who can maybe get a girlfriend first.

My uncle promised he would buy me a real coconut if only I could say it right in English. I had not savored real coconut water in what seemed like years. Apparently, here in Yakima you could not simply stroll to the beach and grab one like in my hometown. In fact, there was no beach. But I had arrived to the United States only a week ago and I was already enrolled in kindergarten. I had to learn the language no matter what it took, so I studied. I gritted my teeth and sat down with a book and a mug-full of determination. After a whole lot of crying, learning, failing and more learning, I could finally not only say the word, but I was able to demand my coconut all in English. I accepted the challenge, set my focus on the goal, and did not stop until I succeeded. Many people say I am stubborn, and perhaps I am, but that coconut was the best delicacy I have ever enjoyed. Therefore, it is certain that it is not intelligence or luck but perseverance and grit that yields success and although my story is nothing like the compelling tale Charles Portis describes in his novel True Grit, they both express the true meaning of grit. In this novel, fourteen year old Mattie Ross and marshal Rooster Cogburn go on a life changing quest to find Tom Chaney, the murderer of Mattie’s father. The meaning of true grit is explored through Mattie Ross’s revenge seeking journey. Essentially, true grit refers to being strong-minded, determined, and unafraid of confronting difficult situations.

Maturity and perseverance is what enables a person to continue on their journey despite discouragements, hardship and setbacks and allows a person to be successful in life. Junior displays both maturation and perseverance throughout the novel the Absolutely True Diary of a Part-Time Indian on multiple occasions. Junior’s maturation and perseverance has taught him to not allow racism to stop him from what he loves, to not accept his expected fate of that he is to live in poverty for the rest of his life, and to not allow bullying to end his adventure in his attempt to have a better life for himself. Even though Junior experiences racism, poverty and bullying he is still able to make the Rearden basketball team, keep his grades up and get away

Perseverance is an important quality in life. Being faced with challenges is difficult, so often, one must be determined. In the film, Renaissance man, directed by Penny Marshall, the characters, Roosevelt Nathaniel Hobbs, Brian Davis, Jr., and Bill Rago are confronted by complicated situations, but they face them.

Within the memoirs of “This Boy’s Life, “The Other Wes Moore” and “Those Winter Sunday’s, the fathers in the first two stories were abusive to their wives. The mothers were somewhat tolerant at first then decided to find a better way of living for both herself and her child. In the third story, there was only a father, so the parent in that story was portrayed differently. The mothers in the first two stories grew up differently. The first mother was born and raised in the U.S and the second mother was born in Jamaica and came to the U.S at age 3. Although both mothers had different upbringings, and were parents during different times, their values were the same. It was important for them to show their child(ren) right from wrong. It was also

“Every year more than 3.6 million referrals are made to child protection agencies involving more than 6.6 million children,” (Child Abuse Statistics, 2017). In This Boy’s Life by Tobias Wolff, we discover the desperate, harsh, and cruel life of a boy named Jack. The novel begins with the young boy acting out negatively to catch his mother’s inattentive eye. He has no one to notice his behavior, either good or bad. He earnestly desires a place in his mother preoccupied life and spends his time jockeying for this spot. In this gut wrenching memoir, a young boy named Jack has experiences a harsh life filled with abuse and no discipline, has a lack of

Boom! Busted the door as the Taliban marched in the little one room house yelling and going threw everything turning the house into a wreck while one of the soldiers grabbed Parvana’s father and taking him out of the house while beating him. Parvana shows perseverance threw the story. Perseverance is steadfast in doing something despite difficulty or delay in achieving success. Parvana has difficult times in Afghanistan dealing with the Taliban and her family but still stands up and shows dedication through the story.

Elijah Turner thought this as he walked into this familiar place, a second home, the place where his dreams came true. The basketball court.

Paul Tough, author of How Children Succeed: Grit, Curiosity, and the Hidden Power of Character, takes on a tough topic of figuring out what components enable a child to succeed. Throughout the book he makes several claims that are related to poverty, attachment, and character. We believe all three of these items play a critical role in how children succeed. We will provide evidence to support these claims as well as critique them.

As an Afghan girl walks through the market, a Taliban grabs her and demands to know what she is doing outside alone. The Taliban starts to beat the girl, but she is brave and stands up for herself. This girl is Parvana. By standing up for herself and taking risks to buy goods for her family, even when times are hard, Parvana is showing perseverance. Perseverance is never giving up despite difficulty.

Imagine yourself, early in the morning,leaving your house to go out to the market. But you are not leaving to shop. You are going to read letters and sell things to make money. You are dressed as a boy and are the only person who can provide for your family. This is the life of Parvana from, The Breadwinner.

What is perseverance? Perseverance is the ability to go on when things seem hopeless. It is also a measure of success, or at least how much sacrifice one is willing to make in the name of success. As students, it is impossible to achieve personal success without having a goal, or direction. The goal and direction that often propels us to achieve is perseverance. Perseverance is the ability to forge ahead despite setbacks that threaten to undermine all efforts to succeed.

The Merriam-Webster Dictionary gives many different definitions defining the word “grit”. A definition that caught my attention was “unyielding courage in the face of hardship or danger” .It gave me a personal reference as to reaching a goal, you have to be faced with challenges that you’ll need to conquer with grit being included. In Angela Lee Duckworth’s TED Talk, “Grit: The Power of Passion and Perseverance,” she claims that having students being pushed to the max is the only way to see the full extent of grit, and I agree with Duckworth. I was able to demonstrate grit on becoming a better basketball play after not making the team my sophomore year of high school. Ever since I was disappointed in my results of not making the team, I had told myself this wasn’t going to mean I was done playing basketball .I gave myself perseverance in knowing I could make it next year with motivation.

Grit is the power of passion and perseverance. Passion and perseverance are not qualities that everybody has. Not everybody who sets a long-term goal achieves it. People who have passion and perseverance are most likely to succeed in life, because passion is what gives us the ability to stick to a goal for a long period of time, and perseverance is the motivation to continue pursuing our goals. Passion and perseverance are the bridges to achieve your goals. In the TED talk “Grit: the power of passion and perseverance” Angela Duckworth explain what will help you to succeed in life and she called it Grit, which she defined it as passion and perseverance for very long-term goals. Grit is having stamina. Grit is sticking with your future, day in, day out, not just for the week, not just for the month, but for years, and working hard to make that future a reality. Grit is living life like it's a marathon, not a sprint.