HOW I OVERCAME CHALLENGES TO ACHIEVE MY AMBITIONS IN LIFE?
In my lifespan of 22 years till now, I have had the opportunity to experience two important events which have made a striking impact and taught me the importance of ‘perseverance’ as an individual and the ‘benefits of teamwork’. I have been a sportsperson throughout my life. I was a natural athlete. So, I had to work little to win the competitions during my schooling. I was the individual champion, a district-level athlete and was also awarded the ‘Best Outgoing Sports Person’ in school. But college was a different story. As an athlete, 400 meters dash was my favorite event. I have been the Champion of that event for 5 straight years. But in college, during my first year, I lost for the first time in that event. I felt devastated. Then, I started to develop fear which later manifested into self-doubt about my abilities to win again. I lost motivation to practice. I direly needed to win again but couldn’t get myself to work. Losing for the first time drained all my energy and the confidence out of me. The miracle moment happened when my father was watching an interview of Roger Federer and I overheard Federer saying, “No matter how bad you fail, you should always learn to pick yourself up and start working from the basics again and this applies for winning too and all of this starts with you losing the fear of losing” This was the life-changing line and the first thing I decided to do was to lose the fear of losing again. The right combination of discipline, hard work and the desire to win pushed my limits and I beat all my rivals in the very next year. This taught me a lot about perseverance.
The other occasion from which I learned the value of teamwork in overcoming hurdles occurred during my 12th grade when I was the captain of the school handball team. We were the champions at the zonal level and were to represent our school at the district level. Our team consisted of academically sound members as well as academically struggling students. Since 12th grade was academically important, the school management decided that the team members who didn't have a good academic record would not be allowed to participate in the district meet. We as a team decided to teach, assist, mentor the academically struggling team members to improve their academics so that they could participate in the district meet. Through dedication from all the team members, the struggling friends cleared all their examinations. Hence, the school management allowed all the team members to participate in the district meet and we were crowned the champions at the district level. After winning and all that happiness and success, we all realized how a team can achieve humongous success when they coordinate and support each other. I learned that when we work as a team, our efforts become stronger and our struggles become weaker. These experiences helped me learn and acquire the right skills and developed the right attitude in me to overcome any difficulty in life.
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