The Importance and Role of Hard Work and Efforts in Your Success

Most kids grow up with their parents repeating some motivational line. For me, it was my father’s motto, which came from a military running cadence - “If you want it, you’ve got to work for it. You’ve got to sweat for it. It ain’t easy”. I thought I knew what his adage meant, but did not learn the true meaning until I overcame my greatest challenge.

That accomplishment was transferring back to St. Francis Xavier for 8th grade after studying three years at Hyde Park Day School. I had to spend an extra year at Hyde Park, a local school that specializes in helping students with learning disabilities develop the skills necessary to reach their full potential in the classroom. While it took more time to leave Hyde Park than expected, I learned that the true definition of my dad’s motto is that you really do need to work hard to get what you want. After two years of intense study at Hyde Park, my teachers and principal thought that it would be best if I remained there for a third year. I had had different plans and I was incredibly frustrated that they did not feel that I was ready to transition back to my previous grade school. The hard work I thought I had dedicated was insufficient. I was incredibly saddened and frustrated. In hindsight, staying at Hyde Park an extra year ended up being a blessing in disguise. It taught me that in life things are not handed to you. Success requires work.

During my second year at Hyde Park, I would often daydream in class and neglect my schoolwork. Since most students transferred out after two years, I thought that I could sit back and relax. I quickly learned that I was completely wrong. I had to change my attitude, focus on every detail of my school work and use the executive functioning tools that Hyde Park encouraged us to embrace. With the extra year at Hyde Park, I changed my attitude and became the hard worker and successful student that I am today. That additional year taught me that success requires dedication and hard work. It enabled me to attend my dream high school, a local all-girl school called Regina Dominican.

At Regina, I have developed in many ways. I used to try to hide who I was, but now I am able to embrace all my qualities (and even my quirks) with confidence. This is something I plan to continue in college - whether it will be attending office hours, advocating for myself if I fall behind or cannot follow the curriculum or visiting the learning disabilities office to speak with my counselor. I have grown as a student and a woman over the last decade and I firmly believe that I am prepared for college. I want to attend college to earn a degree in what I have always been passionate about – graphic arts and early childhood education. Had I known in 7th grade that I would be writing about how an extra year at a learning disability-focused school would shape me as a person, I probably would have had a better attitude about it in 2013.

Everything aside, I cannot believe that a cadence repeated throughout my childhood by my father (so many times that it started to get annoying) would become a life lesson for me. You cannot expect things to be handed to you. You have to work for them. In the end, those accomplishments won’t be easy, but they will be worth the sweat and effort.