Success free essay sample

Ladies and Gentlemen, I give you none otherthan the one and only Nick A.! screamed the announcer into themicrophone, in a vain attempt to be heard over the eruption of cheers from theoverflowing auditorium. As I stood, brimming with pride, the noise grew to adeafening level. I walked slowly toward the podium, my grin growing with eachstep. The announcer shook my hand, the principal slapped me on the back, and as Istepped up to the podium, I looked up at a gigantic banner blazing forth mysuccess. It read: Nice Guy Builds Ramp! Well, it probablywould never happen that way. Nice Guy Builds Ramp! is not exactly acommon honor at an awards ceremony. The fact is I am, for the most part, a niceguy, and I did, in fact, build a ramp. And here is another fact: the truereward did not come from any ceremony but rather because I built it for someone Idid not even know, and it made a world of difference to her. We will write a custom essay sample on Success or any similar topic specifically for you Do Not WasteYour Time HIRE WRITER Only 13.90 / page She was an olderwoman, perhaps in her 70s. I never found out what was wrong with her, but she hada gigantic oxygen tank in her simply furnished living room, and she waswheelchair-bound. The whole business began when I participated in a summerprogram where teens from all over come together to do projects for people who aretoo old or poor to get them done. With other kids, I was assigned to build a rampfor this lady who had not been out of her house in seven years. At first Icould not believe I had been talked into going to a work camp, but I soon found Ihad never felt so good or had so much fun. My crew and I really bonded, with thiscommon goal of helping a woman who was only seeing the world from her window. Instantly, our group seemed to know each other. Lindsey was tall andathletic with really stretchy skin she could use to launch pencils from her knee,a talent she often demonstrated at lunch. Matt was a year younger and muchshorter, his crew cut not helping him much in the height department. We came tocall him the Handy Man because he was never without super-cargo pants that heldmore tools than seemed humanly possible. Michelle had great,super-precisely braided hair that looked as if it had taken hours to do. I wasreally impressed until one of the braids fell out. Oh, shoot, shesaid, and tied it back in. My whole world came crashing down when I realized thebraids were synthetic and that lots of girls wear them. As our workprogressed, we were so involved that we became impervious to the attacks ofpassersby who stopped to ask what we were doing and could not believe we wereworking for free. The big payoff came when our lady rolleddown the ramp for the first time. I will never forget her tears. For the firsttime in seven years she collected her mail herself. We all gave her a gigantichug. Still in a state of amazement, she invited us to visit anytime, claiming shehad plenty of soda. And as she thanked us over and over again, Ill admit it Iteared up. Building a ramp is not the only thing I was ever praised for. Iwon a bronze medal in the Rockland Final Fencing Tournament junior year, so Iknow what it is like to have people clapping when my name is called. But I alsoknow that building a ramp was a much greater success than any medal I could everwin. Success free essay sample â€Å"I don’t want to do it! I should just drop out!† I yelled. There are only two terms left, but I’ve got much better things I can be doing with my time. Like not being here. But I’m stuck here; doing work I don’t want to do, being more stressed than I need to be. I’m sitting at my desk, trying to do work, when my best friend comes in. Well, she used to be. But all the stress has really built up. I started smoking to try to deal with it, and she doesn’t approve. She begs me to stop, but I see no other way. So every night, I do my homework, find time for a smoke break, and continue. It’s better than dropping out, right? People should see things my way. I never get a break. I hate that she doesn’t want to talk to me anymore, but what else can I do? It’s 5-0, bottom of the seventh, your team is down, and you are coming up to bat. We will write a custom essay sample on Success or any similar topic specifically for you Do Not WasteYour Time HIRE WRITER Only 13.90 / page You have 2 options. You can give up before you even get up there, before the inning even starts, or you can go up there saying â€Å"I’m going to take the best three swings of my life† and give your team a chance at making that comeback. Whether or not you actually get a hit, and keep your team alive doesn’t matter as much as the decision that you make. To give up before your at bat, is to fail, is to not succeed. By giving up, and showing that you give up, you bring the rest of your team down with you. Even if it is not a team thing, more so an individual thing, the people around you will also be brought down in some way or another. To take that chance, see what you can do, that is to succeed, that determines whether your at bat was â€Å"successful† or not. Success means different things to different people. To some, it’s achieving something, becoming well-known, and the wealth that goes along with it. To others, it’s passing a test, a cla ss, an interview, a tryout, anything that applies. To me, success is simply not giving up. Doing your best, trying your hardest, when the only possible outcome seems like a lose-lose situation. Success is all about choice, and what a person does when it comes time for her to make that important choice. It’s about doing the right thing when she has the option of doing the wrong. Instinct tells her to give up, once the situation she is looking at is leaning towards a negative outcome. Her instinctual reaction is not always right, but sometimes what she decides to do is what is easiest. And what is easiest is not always what is best, it rarely is. It can be as simple as what you decide to do in that game, or as important as passing high school, passing college, or making a life for yourself. Whether or not you put in the effort, the time, or the will to achieve a goal determines what the outcome is. It’s just as easy to give up in either circumstance, though the result o f some of your actions can be life-changing. Success, to me, is the way you get through life, and handle the hard times. It’s about not bringing you morale down, or the morale of those around you. To not give up and always keep going, no matter what. Like my one teacher says, â€Å"Go, kid, go† and â€Å"never give up!† Success free essay sample When I was younger, I wished for a Porsche and a mansion. That was my idea of success. I vigorously took all the advanced classes possible and aced the exams with my mind set on going to an Ivy League school. I just knew that I would somehow become famous and be able to afford that car and the dream house. All the way through junior year, my mind was planning this idyllic future. Then in eleventh grade, multiple losses changed my na/Ove mindset. First, one of my friends died at age 16. Soon after, my great-grandmother passed, followed by my school’s assistant director and, on the same day, my beloved fourth-grade teacher. The devastation left me not knowing what to do or where to go. Death had never touched me so closely. After a long period of emptiness, it finally struck me: Life is not promised and neither is my future success. We will write a custom essay sample on Success or any similar topic specifically for you Do Not WasteYour Time HIRE WRITER Only 13.90 / page While I was going through the motions in an attempt to attain material success, I was not enjoying my daily life. I was just existing. It occurred to me that life has more purpose than acquiring possessions, which will only be yours until you can no longer keep up with the payments. Although I had often been told this, I finally understood. I realized that finding inner peace, purpose and happiness will stick with you forever and that is real success. Enjoying life’s precious quirks makes a person more successful than a wealthy person who is not content and takes everything for granted. The summer before senior year, my attitude changed drastically. Instead of memorizing facts, I began learning information. Instead of focusing on the future, I focused on today and the many blessings and successes that come with it. I still make excellent grades, but now I dedicate weeks to studying instead of cramming for exams, and I think about the future with a deeper sense of meaning. Success, just like beauty, is in the eye of the beholder. For me, being successful means truly living life each day, being thankful, and impacting the world.