The Importance of Hardwork

 

“Hard work beats talent when talent doesn’t work hard.”

-Tim Notke 

I believe in the importance of hard work. I believe that with the struggles and determination put in, anyone can achieve their goals and dreams.

There’s a distinction between talent and skill that many people cannot recognize. Talent is something that people are born with and natural to them. Skills require hard work and devotion. Many people believe that only the talented can succeed, but that is not the case. A person who has endlessly crafted a skill can surpass the talented.

When I was eight years old, my dad put me into recreational soccer for the club South West United. The goal was for me to have fun and to exercise and be active. I enjoyed playing soccer and got more serious about it, so my dad enrolled me in Nick’s Academy. Nick’s Academy provided kids with extra practice and professional-like training for kids wanting to get better. I thought it was a good idea since I had a strive to improve, but after one session of Nick’s Academy, I easily noticed that I was one of the worst players there. My touch on the ball was terrible, my passing was inaccurate, and my overall confidence playing was low. I admired the kids that could dribble with ease, pass with pinpoint accuracy, and had confidence experimenting with the ball. Back then, I thought they were more gifted than I was and that I could never reach their level. I thought they were born with that gift, that talent to play exceptionally well and that I could never be like them, even if I tried. Me, being the naïve child that didn’t know much, lost faith in my skills and ability. My dad, seeing the defeat in my eyes, enrolled me into competitive soccer at thirteen years old.

The smallest change can make the biggest difference for someone. Even something so simple, so small can change a person’s entire view about something. Niraksha once said, “Small things can make a huge difference. Small hurts can make huge regrets. Small applause can make a person successful. Small things aren’t small, they are the path to big ones…” This quote has a powerful meaning behind it and is very true. Something so minuscule as enrolling in competitive soccer completely changed my mindset about sports and how they worked. Unfortunately, many people lack the will to work hard. It is a common problem found in today’s society and especially in school. Procrastination is an issue that many students suffer from, including me. Without a will to work hard, without dedication towards something, goals and dreams become unattainable. People are lazy and do not have a drive towards anything. Solutions to this need not be large. There only needs to be a small change, a small belief in something, a drive, a will, and then goals can become a reality. My teammates on the competitive soccer team all hold a belief that they could get better. They all had a belief that when they work hard, or, for a more sporty term, grind it out, their dreams can come true. My teammates were much like rough diamonds. If a jeweller doesn’t put in the effort into grinding them, they can never be as beautiful as they can be. Once the jeweller puts in the effort, the diamond can be in its most beautiful form. Hard work and dedication is an important necessity to have in the modern world, and only when you believe your dreams come true.

Picture reference from https://pixabay.com/photos/kid-playing-soccer-football-4763577/

Print Friendly, PDF & Email

4 thoughts on “The Importance of Hardwork

  1. Yifeng,

    Your piece was written quite nicely and I enjoyed it from the start until the end. In this piece, the connections between your anecdote and belief were clearly established which made it easier for me to piece together the timeline of events. I particularly liked that you used a metaphor to compare your teammates to rough diamonds and the determination they put in to the hands of a skilled jeweler. Using a metaphor gave your belief extra flair and helped me to fully digest the importance of it to you. Stating your belief at the very beginning of your piece was a good decision, as it makes it immediately clear to the reader what topic you are going to tackle. Your variety of sentence structures made your belief piece flow nicely and kept me hooked on your story.

    In terms of improvement, it may help others readers if you are able to find a way to break longer paragraphs into smaller chunks as I found myself having to go back and reread the longer sections of text due to the sheer amount of knowledge being poured out into such a crammed space. With that, breaking your text in smaller sections could help readers distinguish the many amazing and separate thoughts you hold. Details for how your belief impacted you and your teammates could be explored more in depth because you simply stated that they followed this belief.

    Altogether, Yifeng, you wrote an engaging piece for all readers and I absolutely love that. This piece managed to find a way to personally connect itself to me which helped to ingrain the true importance of a belief such as yours on hard work. Through your future pieces, I look forward to getting to more know about you through this blog.

  2. Dear Yifeng,

    Your piece was well-written and made for a very enjoyable read. I really liked how it had a clear structure from start to finish, with your belief serving as the introduction and conclusion, while your anecdote served as a body paragraph. You still managed to connect your anecdote and belief in a way that flowed naturally, which was admirable to me because I have difficulty in finding a balance between structure and flow. I also really liked your metaphor near the end of your last paragraph, because I feel like it added more personality and emotion to your writing. Putting it near the end was a great decision because it made your piece more memorable. I like how you made many different stylistic decisions for engagement; you used quotes, metaphors, and different sentence structures.

    For improvement, I would add more to your anecdote, because you focus a lot on the concept of hard work throughout your writing, but not much on what exactly made you get to that point. I feel like giving more information about your personal experiences would help readers establish a clearer connection between you and your belief. I would talk more about how you went from feeling defeated due to lack of natural skill, to believing in the power of hard work.

    Overall, this was wonderfully done! I look forward to learning more from you as a writer and getting to know you better this semester. You’ve definitely caught my eye with this concise yet captivating piece.

  3. Dear Yifeng,

    I really enjoyed reading your piece, after seeing it in the works, I was looking forward to reading your finished piece. I am not disappointed! I really liked how you incorporated your first paragraph and its theme throughout your whole piece. Weaving it throughout really helped strengthen your point. Also, I really like how you compared hard work and results to a jeweler and diamonds, I thought it was very clever. It helped make your piece more engaging.

    Though it been mentioned already by Kaydence and Riya, what caught my attention when I first read your piece was the long paragraphs and the anecdote. To improve, I would section up your paragraphs to help them flow better, the longer paragraphs disengaged your writing, made it harder to focus and read. As well as, expanding your anecdote, personalizing it more, would give readers a better understanding and help them sympathize more with your value, your point that you are trying to get through.

    Overall, I enjoyed reading your piece and I look forward to reading more from you!

    Sincerely, Amanjot

  4. Dear Kaydence, Riya, and Amanjot

    First of all, I want to say thank you for taking the time to read my first blog post and writing such thoughtful comments. And a special thank you for pointing out the errors I had in my piece. I have never thought that my paragraphs were too long. Now that you have mentioned it, I will definitely keep it in mind on my next piece. I can see how it can improve my writing and make it easier for readers. I’m glad that you liked my metaphor of the jeweled diamonds to my teammates. Thanks again!

    Yifeng

Leave a Reply to Riya Cancel reply

Your email address will not be published. Required fields are marked *