Tatum 1

Bailey Tatum
Mrs. Douglas
Writing 1101
2 September 2014
Hard Work
All my life I have been taught that if I work hard enough, I can achieve my
dreams. I am not a natural reader, I do not enjoy simply picking up a novel and reading
it for pleasure like my mom, sister, and so many of my friends. I have always found
reading to be difficult because I really have to go through material slowly, sometimes
multiple times to fully grasp the content. However, I have not let my reading problems
stop me from achieving my dreams and succeeding. I was fortunate to have several
literacy sponsors along the way including my mother, my speech therapist, and a third
grade teacher I truly loved who challenged me. These people definitely were richer in
knowledge than I was and were willing to enter a reciprocal relationship with me to
help me accomplish my goals (Brandt 167). With their help throughout my life, I have
arrived at my This I Believe Proclamation while it may take more work, more time,
and more dedication, I can achieve my goals in life through perseverance and hard
work.
According to Primer Magazine, hard work dwindles down to five elements. The
drive, the plan, the grind, the sacrifice, and the payoff. The drive is the motivation it
takes to get you moving. You have to have a reason to work hard, or it is impossible to
achieve anything. The plan is how you figure out what you need to do to make it to the
grind, which is where your focus really gets tested. The sacrifice is when you truly have

Tatum 2
to give up some things to get you to where you need to be. That finally brings you to
the payoff, which is the accomplishment you feel when you finally reach your
goal(Primer).
The belief that hard work enables you to achieve your dreams was instilled in me
from a young age. When I was three, my mother decided to change careers. In order to
do so, she had to go back to college to earn her degree while caring for me and my sister and ensuring we had enough love and attention. I remember many days playing outside in the backyard while she watched over us with a textbook on her lap and a highlighter in her hand. She had to take 11 classes to get her teaching certification while
holding down a full time job, but I do not remember a time where I felt neglected. I know
it was hard work for her to go back to school after being away from it for almost twenty
years, but she did so successfully while keeping her family happy. She exemplified for
me a statement made by Randy Pausch: A lot of people want a shortcut. I find the best
shortcut is the long way, which is basically two words: work hard (Goodreads). It took
my mom more than three years to get her teaching certification, but like Pausch, she
knew that working hard was the best way to achieve her dream.
This belief of hard work enabling your dreams shows itself daily for me. I was not
accepted into the engineering program. I know that in order to achieve my dream of
getting into the engineering school I have to work hard and make excellent grades. Because I struggle with my reading, I was unable to score high enough on the SAT to enter the school as a freshman. I have been told that I must achieve a grade point average
of at least a 2.8 after my freshman year to reapply. Pauschs quote about working hard
comes into play with this as well. I wish I could have taken a shortcut to get into the en-

Tatum 3
gineering program but instead I am sticking with my belief and having to work hard to
achieve my goal.
Hard work is not the only thing I believe in but it is one of my strongest beliefs.
You have to work hard to get anything accomplished in life. I know that I must devise a
plan to accomplish my goals and this will involve critical thinking. Critical thinking is the
ability to think for ones self and reliably and responsibly make those decisions that affect ones life, according to Steven Schafersman, a humanist and skeptic. He states
that critical thinking involves reasonable, reflective, responsible, and skillful thinking
that is focused on deciding what to believe or do (Schafersman). I have already met
with my advisor to discuss the classes I need to take in order to pursue my dreams and
goals, and now it is up to me to be responsible and use my own skillful thinking to succeed in those classes, so I can accomplish my goals.
I started gaining an interest in engineering while I was in high school. As part of
my plan, I took three different drafting classes and all of the art classes that were available at my high school. In addition, I focused on the higher levels in math and science.
I know my belief in hard work paid off, and I am optimistic that same work ethic will pay
off in my future. While I am optimistic, I also know that there is a possibility that I wont
be able to accomplish my dream of engineering. If that happens, then I will have to rely
on another quote by Randy Pausch: Its not how hard you hit. Its how hard you get
hitand keep moving forward (Goodreads).
Accomplishing my goals has never been a simple, easy task. I have always had
to work hard to comprehend and absorb information presented to me in written text.

Tatum 4
However, I have never let these issues keep me from accomplishing my goals, nor do I
believe that those issues will prevent me from reaching my career goal of becoming an
engineer. Because I learned essential critical thinking skills, I am able to stay organized
and focused on whatever task is at hand. My hard work in high school has paid off with
me being admitted to the University of North Carolina at Charlotte where I can pursue
my dreams. In addition, thanks to the examples and sponsors I have had in my life, I
know that I can succeed at whatever I set my mind to and to not be afraid of hard work.
Pausch stated that We cannot change the cards we are dealt, just how we play the
hand (Goodreads). Luckily, I am strong in my belief that while it may take more work,
more time, and more dedication, I can achieve my goals in life through perseverance
and hard work.

Tatum 5

Works Cited
Brandt, Deborah. "Sponsors of Literacy." College Composition and Communication 49.2
(1998): 165-185.
Busch, Jack. "Hard Work in 5 Easy Steps: Understanding Perseverance in the Modern
Age." Primer. Web. 4 Dec. 2014.
Goodreads. The Last Lecture Quotes by Randy Pausch. 2014. 1 September 2014.
Schafersman, Steven D. Free Inquiry. 7 February 2011. 1 September 2014.