| Photo credit: Lacy Lichtenhan (me) |
Your dreams aren’t going to just come true for you. They take
passion, determination, sweat, and hard work. I have learned this in the past fifteen
years all the way from taking my first step to taking my first job. All through life
my parents, my teachers, my coaches and the media have told me that hard work
equals success. I used to disregard it, and not truly listen, but I guess
that’s why they repeated it so many times. The first time I really heard it was
when I got a report card in sixth grade with all F’s. It made me pretty mad,
especially when someone called me a dumb blonde. So I decided I didn’t just
want to be a dumb blonde. I knew I was smarter than that, and I wanted to be
someone that could leave a legacy, someone that people would remember. Ever
since then I have had determination embedded in my heart, driving me forward
when I feel like giving up. Hard work isn’t just doing your homework and going
to practice, it’s going the extra mile to be the best that you can. I’m
definitely not saying that everything goes perfect; I’ve had some major rough
spots, but always came back for the finish. I’m sure that there will be even
more bad days, months, and years to come.There will always be another mountain to climb until the day I die, but you have to conquer one to get to the even greater one Why is life so hard? It’s because
everything is hard work, even dragging myself out of bed in the morning after
hitting the snooze button five times. I believe people who have everything
given to them can become lazy, selfish and insensitive. It spotlights a
person’s character; shows who is going to turn up their sleeves and be ready, who
is going to turn up their nose, or who is even going to show up at all. A lot
of our accomplishments are because of luck, but I find it hard to rely on the
possibility of winning the lottery to determine my future. I value hard work,
because it’s proven that things that seem impossible can be done and that
anyone can do it (even blondes)!