Speech On Grit Speech

Grit is a good quality to have. I know lots of people that have grit, but perhaps the strongest person I know would be my aunt, Jessie. Her husband, Randy, was having health issues. Jessie was completely unaware of any of these problems. It came time to go to the doctor and get things checked out. Jessie still didn’t know that this was going on. Within a day they called him back to tell him that his blood work had reflected some MAJOR issues. He was rushed to Iowa City and stopped breathing twice. The ICU was his new home. Every major organ in his body had completely shut down, and he was depending on life support to try and hold on. This didn’t make sense. It wasn’t fair. He was young, he was full of life, and then out of the blue he was

On February 28, 2005, I experienced one of the most exciting events that anyone could ever experience – winning a State Championship. The day my soccer team made history is a day I’ll never forget. However it is not just that day we won the title, but the whole experience of the preceding season that got us there. From start to finish, my team’s 2004-2005 season taught me that the platitude is true. You can do anything you set your mind to.

It was a very warm and tense place in the gymnasium of the Alpena High School. A group of freshman and sophomore baseball players were waiting for the words you wanted to hear which was “Congratulations” or the not so good news of “Sorry” from the coach deciding if you made the team. Personally, at the start of baseball tryouts I thought to myself it’s going to be a toss up to see if I would make the team having a 50/50 chance. I was nervous for the most part because there were an abundace of upperclassman also trying out for the team that were on it last year. There were twenty-seven people trying out for fifteen spots to play JV baseball.

For decades, American Football has captivated this nation as one of the prime sources of entertainment. With the culmination point, the Super Bowl, attracting more viewership than any other televised event in the country, the sport has seen a tremendous growth since its origination in 1920. In an era of economic struggle, job shortage, and high-cost of living, those with above average physical abilities can find the lure of professional football to be extremely attractive. With the wealth and fame attached to a professional career, many of our youths share the common dream of achieving football star status. In order to attempt this lofty goal, many kids enroll in this contact sport at an early age, often times with the support of their parents.

In third grade I began my first official Sheridan sports team. I was now officially making my way to becoming a general; before that I didn’t have any idea of what being a “general” meant. At the time I was attending Thornville elementary and the majority of my friends at my school were just as pumped as I, for our first practice on the field beside the infamous Sheridan Middle school. The first few weeks of practice taught me nothing I wanted was going to be easily attainable, these coaches expected more out of me than I had ever been accustomed to. The bar they set for us each day pushed us to new heights we had only dreamed of.

Have you ever felt like you’re not good enough, not knowing just how much potential you have? One of the most salient experiences of my life was making the Island Coast High School football team, because it taught me that to succeed you must be confident in yourself. The old me would have thought, “ I’m not good enough,” because I never thought that I could compete with kids that already played football. I suppose that I always felt like i couldn’t compete with football players because whenever I would play football in eighth grade, I would not be able to keep up with them. Little did I know, all of that was about to change the day I made my way to the middle of the humid, scorching fied, staring into the eyes of North Ft. Myers Highs’ freshman football team.

It was a brisk fall evening, and my seventh grade youth football team and I had traveled to Aberdeen to play the undefeated Chiefs. We had worked harder and longer than we ever had that week to show that we were a threat in the league and ascend from our third place ranking. We knew it was not going to be easy; the Chiefs’ team had the fastest running back in our division, and they had scored more total points per game than any other team in the Southeast Idaho Youth Football League. The field was neater and greener than we had expected in this town. It was a great day for football, and I was with all of my best friends. I knew going in that it was going to be a learning experience whether we won or lost that night because the Chiefs were

Sixty pairs of ears belonging to the sweaty high school boys still in their lacrosse pads eagerly tuned in to the list Coach Griffin was relaying. First, he sounded off names of seniors, followed by juniors. Then he started reading sophomore names, and I perked up, anxious and nervous. He read off about six or seven names, but not mine. He then folded the paper he was reading from in half and slipped it into his pocket. As he did this, my heart sank, for I knew what he would say next: “Those names I just called have been selected to be on the varsity roster for the 2015 Marmion lacrosse team. Congratulations! Let’s have a great year. If I did not call your name, you are on the JV team.” I was devastated.

We had traveled in the minivan for 5 hours, for a group of 13 year old boys this trip felt like eternity. However, our excitement kept us all jaunting to each other about silly middle school shenanigans, who can dougie better, and how we were all going to “murk” this tryout. Johnny Evans, Malik Chatman, Gavin Rose, Ronnie Fountain, and I were all selected to try-out for the 14u Team South football team. This team would represent all the best players in the southeast and clash them against other regions best athletes. This would be a 3 day try-out. After leaving Orlando, the van had finally reached its destination. Coach Rose jingled to the car “Atlanta is the place to be, with orange peaches and southern tea,” we all stared at Gavin as his face turned as red as a Crayola. We pulled into the lot of the hotel all participating athletes had been assigned right off of I-75. We all unloaded the van of our luggage proceeded to the check in, Coach got the keys for room 325 and 326. I was so tired of riding in back of the van that I did not really care how the room would look as long as I could put my bags down and fall right into the bed. Malik, Johnny and I entered our room 326 to the right was with a bathroom sink, a mirror, and shower. On the left, a mini kitchen with a stove, island table, and refrigerator. In front of us, there were two wooden dressers pinned together with a television on top. Near the window, there was a small table with a lamp as well as chair in the corner.

In the middle of June I’ll find myself on the football field drenched in sweat, hoping to make a “2-Peat”. I’ll be embraced by all the coaches and fellow players, we’ll all be like one big happy family. On game days the stands will be packed full of screaming fans, all confident that Monroe will win the game. After the win, the opposing team will leave with their heads held high, because we’re only good athletes, we don’t compare to the well rounded student-athletes at their school.

Freezing in the morning, the grassy fields at the Uihlein soccer complex were let off a cracking every step. The excitement of playing in my first ever varsity lacrosse game kept me hyped up on the day of its arrival. Grinning widely, wearing sapphire blue, I strutted to the bench for our team, Brookfield Lacrosse. As the tournament was preparing to start, the sound of Eminem’s music played through the speakers and parents chattered in the stands before the first game between Arrowhead and my team. All that was running through my mind at the time was, “Don’t underperform. Make a statement to the coaches.”

Grit, in my opinion, is very important. I think of grit as dedication. Without grit, you lack hardwork and don’t put all you have into a task. At my previous job, I got there early, I did extra tasks, I made sure my duties were complete before I worked on my personal things, I always made sure that things were done in a timely fashion and met all the standards that the supervisors wanted. I was in charge of training a girl to take my position after I moved away to college. She lacked grit, she would have rather played on her phone then get the job done, and would ask me to help her catch up. I learned that grit is extremely hard to teach especially when there is only a two-year difference.

When I didn’t make Pennington’s Varsity Girls’ Soccer team my freshman year, unlike five of my classmates and my sister when she was a freshman, I was devastated. Although that last day of preseason was heartbreaking for me, I remember Dr. Hawkey saying to me that not only should I take this year to work on getting stronger, but to also turn what I saw as a setback into an opportunity to be the star on JV. I’ll be honest— I didn’t want to be the star on the JV team. I didn’t want that letter “J,” I only wanted the “V.” After having some time to reflect on not making the cut for Varsity, however, I realized that I wasn’t being a team player by thinking that way and that even though I may not have wanted to be a JV star, there really was an opportunity

Walter, my counselor, blew his whistle to signal the start of the game. Other kids already started frantically running across the dividing line and got their flags ripped off. Meanwhile, I stood vigilantly on my team’s side of the gym, scanning for a hole in the opponent’s defense. I felt like a sniper at war on a raging battlefield. The bodies started clearing on the other side so I seized my chance to strike. Without hesitation, I sprinted and weaved my way around the sweaty limbs grabbing at the flags around my waist until I made it to the football inside the safety box on the other side of the gym. All eyes darted at me - my teammates anxiously hoping for me to return with the ball, my opponents staring me down, ready to snatch my flags. “Give it to me,” demanded Naive Boy as he also nervously stood in the safety box. “Um, no,” I replied. Another kid came sprinting into the box, which thankfully allowed a distraction. In the next second, I bolted through enemy territory back to my side like Dash in the jungle scene of The Incredibles. I had just scored our team’s first point of the game which set the tone for the rest of our victorious afternoon. Some boys chipped in with scores and so did some girls. At the end of the day, it felt rewarding that such great team effort from all our players could translate into

Growing up, children are often told the common phrase, “If at first, you don't succeed try, try, again…” (W.C. Fields). This is used to teach children to never give up, a way to ensure that they can triumph over adversity and grow upon their grit. Although, people usually forget the second part of that quote, “…Then quit. No use being a damn fool about it.” (W.C. Fields). The second half of the quote is a full contrast to the first half, this is telling children to give up and just stop trying. Those who give up are often thought of having no grit. Some wonder if grit is necessary for society, to be more specific if grit is something that should be taught in school, I feel that it should not. Students switch interests so often that it is hard for them to stick with the same interests as time passes. When a student is enthused about a subject, I see grit as a way for one to express their interests. When one’s passion is put to the test and it feels like there is no progress or no more enjoyment left in that passion is when true grit is shown. Those who support the idea of grit, like Angela Duckworth, believe that grit is a big factor in how one succeeds.