The Road to Perseverance
By: Alexis Emmens May 2016
What is Perseverance?
Perseverance is a person's ability to continue to achieve something despite difficulties, failures, or opposition.
Perseverance is important because it allows a person to keep going in spite of a challenging situation until your ultimate goal is reached.
Perseverance requires certain character traits. These traits include persistence, conviction, ambition, resilience, and many more.
Studying all these texts has taught me that no matter what, never give up. Even if you feel like you're going to die, keep going.
Jackie Robinson (Infographic 1; Problem Solution)
Lady Jags (Paragraph 1; Description)
The Lady Jags are an embattled group of girls who have came from a lesser life with many adversities such as alcoholic parents, drug addiction, abuse, anger issues, mental illnesses, and poverty. Through the Carroll Academy basketball team, they learned how to work together and were given a second chance. For instance, their coaches never gave up on them, giving them the chance to turn their lives around for the better. The coaches taught them life lessons through basketball, and gave them confidence and the ability to work together with others. The girls also were able to stand together in solidarity when they lost a game or when one of the teammates was down. The girls also received a “family” through the team. They knew that their teammates and coaches would always care for the members. For example, the girls went through so much that the team gave them security and made them feel loved again. The girl's parents were in jail, alcoholics, drug abusers, or they abused their children. The team made the girls feel like they had a home again. In conclusion, the Lady Jags were a group of girls who went through so much in their life and were given a second chance through their coaches and their basketball team.
Winston Churchill (Infographic 2; Sequence)
Carry On (Paragraph 2; Compare and Contrast)
Dartanyon Crockett and Leroy Sutton were the subjects of a ESPN documentary called “Carry On” about their inspiring life story and the adversities they faced. Dartanyon Crockett and Leroy Sutton are both known for their accomplishments. They faced many adversities together, but they have their similarities and differences. These two young men both faced a very unfortunate childhood. Leroy was raised by his grandparents, while Dartanyon’s mother died when he was eight and his father was a drug and alcohol abuser. Both of these extraordinary men also have different physical disabilities. Dartanyon was born with Leber’s Disease and is legally blind. On the contrary, Leroy was struck by a train and is now a double amputee. Leroy’s mother started abusing drugs after he was hit, she then later went to a rehab facility but disappeared. They both were on their High School wrestling team at Lincoln-West. Since Leroy didn’t have legs, Dartanyon would carry him around. Dartanyon is legally blind and he was carrying Leroy around at the wrestling matches. Leroy soon became Dartanyon’s eyes while Dartanyon became Leroy’s legs. They both graduated from Lincoln-West High School in 2009. After High School, they both set out on different paths. Dartanyon moved to Colorado to “study” Judo and he eventually made it to the Paralympics. He received bronze in the 2012 London Paralympic Games. On the other hand, Leroy went onto college at the University of Arizona in Phoenix, Arizona. He his on his way to graduate college with a Bachelor's degree in video game designing. Leroy is also a loving father to an adorable daughter. Despite Leroy and Dartanyon’s differences, we can learn so much more about how to persevere through tough times and never give in.
Picture of Dartanyon and Leroy
Eric LeGrand (Paragraph 3; Cause and Effect)
October 2010, a tragedy struck Eric LeGrand. While Eric was making a routine tackle on a kick-off, when he was hit. He was on the ground and couldn’t move. The hit had paralyzed from the neck down. He had a long road of recovery ahead of him. For now he needs help in every small thing. Yet even though his injury has greatened the amount of help he needs by a lot, he always shares a positive. For example, his mother, Karen LeGrange, states, “Eric hasn’t changed, and I think that is his greatest attribute. He’s still the happy-go-lucky person he was before he was injured… just to see him mature, and grow up and just to see him keep that attitude is more than I could ever ask for.” This shows that even though he needs all the extra care, he has been the same person and has never shown any negative behavior, ever. His favorite football player stated that, “I just was so impressed with the guy- his attitude and what he’s gone through… It’s amazing for guy to have that kind of an attitude when he’s in a wheelchair when he was a pro football prospect.” Even though he could be sad and depressed, he is showing everyone that his attitude hasn’t changed a bit, and since everyone around him is affected by his attitude, everyone around him is happy. Since the accident, Eric is spreading his inspirational message across the US. For example, “LeGrand kicked off the week on Monday with a number of interviews on Radio Row.” This shows that, he is not letting his injury stop him from spreading the word of his story. More than anything he wants to spread the word about teamlegrand.org., which is an organization that is raising money to find a cure for paralysis. He will be completing his degree in labor studies at Rutgers. He said that earning a degree is near top of his list of accomplishments. Of course, walking is his number priority, but until that happens he can’t stop everything else. Overall, Eric is a happy, energetic, healing man and will not stop until he finds a cure for all paralyzed people around the world.
In Conclusion...
By studying all of these different texts, we learned how perseverance has played a role throughout history. It enabled Winston Churchill to become Prime Minister, twice. Perseverance helped Jackie Robinson become the first African-American MLB player. These are just two of the many examples of perseverance throughout history. Without it, how would we get anywhere?