OptimistSpeechRA15


 * HOW MY OPTIMISM WILL HELP ME PRESS ON TO GREATER ACHIEVEMENTS IN THE FUTURE.**

When people have to face adversity, many times they just quit because it is too hard, or they don't have time to try again. But others go back and adjust themselves and use their optimism to succeed. I have used my optimism many times, but I only have time to talk about three of them: when I learned to ride a bicycle, when I tried out for the basketball team, and when I went to the State Geography Bee.

When I was about eight years old, I was angry because many of my friends knew how to ride a bike. I was so frustrated with myself that I just ripped the training wheels off of my bike and started pedaling. The only thing was that I had really horrible balance, and immediately fell over and scraped myself up. But, I still wanted to learn, so I asked my dad how to ride. He said that you really need to balance the whole way through, or you will fall. He gave me a scooter for my birthday that year so I could learn to balance. After a while I got the hang on balancing on a scooter, so I started trying to on a bicycle. The first few times I fell, but I kept trying. Then, I could finally balance completely, brake, use the pedals correctly, and turn. I finally knew how to ride.

Entering the 7th grade year was tough for me, especially in December, because that was when they had the Classroom Geography Bee competition. I had won the classroom and the school wide competition in 4th (the first to do so) and failed the test to go to state competition. I had gotten 3rd in the classroom in 5th grade, and 5th in the classroom in 6th grade. So, now I wanted to go back to the school wide competition and maybe even go to state. I used my optimism to push me ahead and maybe even go to the state. When the classroom competition finally came around the corner, I was prepared. I wanted to at least win again before I left Incarnation. I was on top of my game and had a score of 8-0, automatically qualifying me for the school wide competition. The school wide competition was a breeze, and I only had about one or two incorrect answers the whole day. I won that and had to later take the test for state. I finished the test after school with 30 minutes left and passed it. So then I got to go to the competition at Jacksonville University in Jacksonville, Florida, for the weekend (but it was also the weekend of the carnival, darn). I did pretty well there, probably being the only one not having a photographic memory, and I finished 25th out of 100 people.

The last story I have about optimism is when I tried out for the basketball team. In 5th grade, I did not make the team. So over the summer I tried extra hard to try to make the team in 6th grade. Come October, when the season started, I tried my hardest and made the Junior Varsity team. I tried my hardest during the season, a season in where we finished 3-4. We lost in the First Round of the tournament to Villa Madonna. The next season, I had my hopes up even more. Since I was in 7th grade, I could try out for Varsity. I made the Varsity team. We had a lot of work to do, and had a long road ahead of us. We finished the regular season 0-13. But later we used our optimism to push on, and defeated St. Joseph's 62-60 in the First Round. We later lost to St. Lawrence 48-27 in the Quarterfinals, but we had tasted victory. This year we started 3-0, defeating St. Joseph's, Corpus Christi, and Villa Madonna. But, after we lost to Christ the King, St. Peter Claver, Villa Madonna, and Mother Theresa of Calcutta. That made our record 3-4. We had the toughest stretch ahead of us. We had to play the top three teams in the league (Christ the King, St. Lawrence, and Nativity) three days in a row. We lost them all, but we didn't let ourselves go unnoticed. We finished off the regular season with losses to St.Stephen's and St. Peter Claver. We finished the regular season with a 4-9 record and a game slotted against St. Joseph's in the First Round. We defeated St. Joseph's by 12, and played Nativity in the Quarterfinals. We lost 58-42, but I think we shook them up a bit.

These three events are the reminder that optimism can get you through anything. Whether it's riding a bicycle, doing the Geography Bee, or playing basketball. All of these things used optimism to help me press on to do great things in the future. Now that I have been through these experiences of optimism, I will know not to give up very easily.


 * Word Count: 850**