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Determination is Your Super Power

By Léonie Sayeur, Grade 12
The best way to succeed in life is to have determination. The definition of determination is the ability to continue trying to do something even if it’s difficult. It is when you don’t care about people who want to discourage you, when you have a purpose and you do everything to achieve it. Determination is also the power to be able to ignore the opinions of others. The only important thing is to fulfill our wants.
 
We have all had a moment in our lives when someone has told us that we could never achieve our goal. If we decided to listen to them, we would surely miss some great experiences. I have one experience in my life that if I had listened to everyone’s opinion, I wouldn’t be the person I am today.
 
Four years ago, I had surgery on my back. The doctors and my coaches told me that I could never do gymnastics again. Imagine if somebody told you that you could never do the thing you love again. When I woke up after the surgery, I couldn’t even walk, but I was ready to give it my best and do everything I could to get back in the gym. Even the doctors were surprised how quickly I healed. Six months after my surgery, my doctor gave me the okay to go back to gymnastics. Once I returned, even my coaches weren’t sure they trusted the process, but I knew I had to prove them wrong.
 
I won’t lie; it was definitively harder than I thought. At one point I began to think that everyone around me was right and that I couldn’t do it. Obviously, everything had changed and I had to relearn everything. I had to double my efforts to do the same thing I could easily do before. At the end of the day, I can say that I proved them wrong since I did do gymnastic again.
 
Maybe it was my pride that wanted to prove to others that I could do it, but the important thing is to always believe in ourselves. What I just told you, applies to everything, whether it is at school or for all the projects you will undertake in the future.
 
You should always believe in yourself. Nothing is lost until you’ve tried everything you can to accomplish it. You never know what tomorrow is going to look like, you don’t have any time to lose. In the end, the most important thing is to do what you want and to trust yourself.
 
A few months ago, my cousin gave his speech on time and how important it is to use it well. I think there is a link between our two speeches. If you want to use your time well, you have to do what makes you happy and not listen to other’s opinion.
 
I’ll leave you with a quote from Simone Biles, “I’d rather regret the risk that didn’t work out than the chances I didn’t take at all”.
 
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