SpeechLJ115

=//**How my optimism will help me press on to greater achievements in the future.**//=

Problems: life is full of them. Whether it is something you have to do, or do not want to, or something bad that has happened, there is a wide range of different problems in life. Problems can come from anywhere. They can come from friends, or school, or work, or family, they will generally be around you your entire life. You can not decide when there will be a problem, it is not your choice, and it is not up to you. But the one thing that is your choice is how you handle problems. If you just sit around and do nothing about it the problem will never be resolved. If you get angry and frustrated about it, without taking action, the problem still will not be resolved. Now the best way, in my opinion, to handle problems, is with optimism. Now what is optimism? Optimism is 'hopefulness and confidence about the future or the successful outcome of something', as defined by Google. In order to get past any obstacle in life, you have to have confidence and hope for the future, otherwise you'll never overcome the obstacle.

I have to go to high school, we all do. It is something we have to do, it's unavoidable. High school will not be perfect, nothing is perfect, really. And in high school, there will be lots of obstacles I will have to face, and hopefully overcome. But I will never be able to overcome these problems if I do not have optimism. There will be tons of assignments I have to complete over those four years, essays, speeches, classwork, homework, projects. To complete them all, I have to be optimistic, telling myself that one day all the hard work will be worth it. I have to have hope that in the future, all the hard work will pay off. Without it, I would probably miserable in high school, counting the days until I finally get to leave. That sure would be a dreadful high school career. But using optimism, I can make it some of the best four years of my life.

In high school, there are lots of other people. Dozens, hundreds of new people, strangers, at first. I have been at ICS for nine years, I've known lots of my classmates since 1st grade, 2nd, quite a few since Kindergarten. So going into high school will be a very new experience for me, a pretty scary one. If I constantly tell myself that everyone there is going to be mean, and that no one will be friendly, I'm probably going to be very nervous going into high school, unnecessarily nervous. But if I'm optimistic and tell myself that it is all going to be okay, and that I will make friends, I will be a lot less nervous. Not everyone in high school is going to be an angel sent from heaven above, and I know that, but I have to be optimistic that everything will be okay.

There is a lot that comes after high school. College, career paths, plenty of things. And I would, personally, like to go to college and get a good stable job, a goal that a lot of people have. But to get there, it is going to take a lot of hard work. College is going to be a completely different experience from high school. It definitely will not be a walk in the park, lots of assignments, homework, studying, exams, it is all a very drawn out process. But in the end, it is worth it. Because if I get a degree, I have a much better chance at getting a favorable, steady job in the future. Though I know college will be difficult, and it is far in my future, I still have to be optimistic that I will have the strength to get through it.

Long after I have graduated high school, and soon after I have gotten a degree, I am done with my schooling. I am finished, all the hard work, late nights finishing assignments, speeches, all of it. It's over. It will finally be time to get a reliable job in line with my career path. Getting a job is not always an easy thing to do, they are sometimes quite difficult to find. But if I have optimism, eventually, I'll find a job. I just have to have hope for the future and not give up. Once I get a job, it doesn't end there. There are still hundreds of people that I will have to deal with on a weekly basis. Not everyone is going to be nice, and some people will stand in the way of goals, but eventually, through my own hard work, and the use of optimism, I can achieve my goals.