The Road to Perseverance
by Matthew Senanou
Perseverance
Perseverance is the continued effort to do good in the face of adversity. Many have faced adversity but no human that has lived has ever succeeded without having to get past an obstacle. Michael Jordan was cut from his High School basketball team. Walt Disney was told his writings were unoriginal and not good enough. This shows that the more success you have is based on how much failure you've faced.
Perseverance Dartanyon Crockett
Dartanyon Crockett and Leroy Sutton were both boys who lived in a broken part of inner city Cleveland, they were brought together by brotherhood but there physical differences make them very different. This, however, brought them closer and closer to each other. Dartanyon Crockett was a student at Lincoln West High School. Dartanyon is legally blind. He was like that since birth. Dartanyon father was an alcoholic, and his mother died when he was only 8 years old. Dartanyon also never had a permanent home to stay in. These adversities allowed him to connect and gain the trust of another disabled student Leroy Sutton. One day when Leroy was going to school his book bag was caught in a railway. A train was also coming when this happened. Leroy’s legs were both cut off. Leroy also had some severe trust issues before because his father had left him when he was a child. Leroy and Dartanyon both were on the wrestling team. Dartanyon and Leroy were inseparable, everywhere one was found so was the other. Dartanyon and Leroy had formed a brotherhood and no one could stop them. Dartanyon and Leroy had both earned a diploma from a school that had a graduation rate of less than 50%. Dartanyon and Leroy were broadcasted across the country and people wanted to donate because they did not have enough money to go to college. A woman named Lisa Fenn stepped in to Leroy and Dartanyon’s lives and laid a path for their future. Without Lisa they would be living in inner city Cleveland. With Lisa’s help Dartanyon moved to Colorado and trained with the U.S. Olympic Judo team. Leroy moved to Phoenix, Arizona and studied video game designing. Right around the time when Leroy graduated he realized his girlfriend was pregnant and stayed with her so he could be the father that he always wanted to have. Meanwhile Dartanyon succeeded in this and won a bronze medal. While Leroy was graduating college and becoming a video game designer.
Beyond Blood
Tom Monaghan Perseverance
Thomas Stephen Monaghan, the founder of a very successful Domino’s pizza faced a lot of adversities in the building block to becoming what he is today. Thomas Monaghan’s first problem was having his restaurant being a seasonal thing. His restaurant was outside a college. When school was not in session his business dropped 75%. His solution to the problem was to work all day every day at the shop. Eventually Tom needed a business partner. He hired Jim to work with him. Jim had past bankruptcy so everything was in Tom’s name but Jim was cunning he stole money from Tom and went on spending sprees. Tom eventually had to pay Jim 26,000 dollars for his share in the company. Tom eventually went bankrupt and had to start over. Tom also opened multiple restaurants. There was a problem though there was poor management and understaffed restaurants so they eventually closed and Tom’s lawyer told him to file for bankruptcy, but Tom stuck with it and it didn't matter how overwhelming the adversities were he didn't quit. Later on his company became one of the best pizza places in the nation maybe even world.
Success is based on effort
Lady Jags Perseverance
In a town called Huntingdon, there is a school for young women who have faltered in their life and face individual adversities. This school is a detention center and each adversity that these women have faced has not only set them apart, but brought them together. The Lady Jags are a basketball team that these women have to join. This is a pretty unique team because they go to Carroll Academy a detention center with a loss record of 213, but each young woman pulled the team together from losing by 90+ points to only 20. One girl named Kayla had very serious drug abuse. Her parents abused drugs and she did too. Another girl has Bipolar disorder and was charged with aggravated assault. Although these girls’ adversities hold them back, it’s not about how hard someone falls, it’s about if that person gets up or not. All of these women will go back to high school and graduate with their class when their time is up. This shows that even if someone is coming from a broken home, abusive parents, and not knowing if you’re going to eat today, there’s still a light at the end of the tunnel and the only way it will disappear if you go backwards. When you get to the end you triumph in your victory because you know that you got yourself there and everyone who doubted you was wrong.