Quarter 4 Newsletter
By Ryan Finneran
“Permanence, perseverance and persistence in spite of all obstacles, discouragements, and impossibilities: It is this, that in all things distinguishes the strong soul from the weak (Thomas Carlyle).” Perseverance is defined as becoming successful despite adversity and hardship, as the quote shows.
Eleanor Roosevelt had many obstacles in her life, many of them during her childhood. Eleanor was born in 1884 to an alcoholic father and an aloof mother. She was plagued by insecurity and shyness. She later married Franklin Roosevelt, her fifth cousin once removed. This only increased Eleanor’s insecurity. She overcame these adversities by using her talents of public speaking and articulating social problems to solve other people's’ problems. By doing this she became extremely successful.
In order to become the prime minister of Britain, Winston Churchill had to face many adversities. First, he was shot at and captured in war. Winston was a prisoner of war for almost a month before he finally managed to escape. He later decided that he was going to join politics, so he ran for election as a member of parliament. But when World War 1 began in 1914, things started to go badly for Churchill. Many people felt that he overstepped his position, that he was trying to deal with all military matters, not just the navy. Then when the Dardanelles campaign failed, Winston was blamed for the whole thing, and was quickly moved out of government. He was finally invited back to politics and given the position of Secretary of State and Air. Next, he was made Secretary of State for the Colonies but only a year later he lost his MP seat and was out of office for two years. Finally, in 1940, Churchill was made prime minister of England. In 1951, he was asked to lead Britain again, beginning his second term of prime minister. Winston Churchill overcame many adversities in order to experience triumph.