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Shafiq Alvarado Cas 100A: Section 073 February 27, 2014 This I Believe: Challenge Breeds Excellence

Thesis Statement: Challenge breeds excellence.

Introduction I.

Attention Grabber: How many of you wake up and feel extremely accomplished when you tie your shoes? A. Yeah, me neither. That’s because it wasn’t very challenging. There was no struggle. There was no inward drive forcing you to complete this task, pushing you to succeed in the face of adversity. Now, while many of you might say that “the struggle was too real” while coming to class today, I’m sure that it was not the hardest thing you’ve done all month. B. Introduce Thesis: I believe that challenge breeds excellence. Without facing a challenge that has the ability to break me, I never feel fully satisfied when coming out successful. Going through difficult experiences makes people grow into better versions of themselves. C. People are challenged by different things. For some, it’s a Spanish exam, for me it was parallel parking when I was sixteen with an old man in the passenger seat

staring at me. I think it is safe to say all of us in this room have struggled with a Penn State exam at one point of our collegiate career. However, I believe that because we were able to get through it that we are better people for it. That is to say, the pain of suffering through your hardest college classes is worth it. According to the department of labor, in 1979, college graduates held jobs with average salaries of 38% more than just high school graduates. Today, that number has almost doubled to a 71% increase over our non-collegiate counterparts.

Transition: Regardless of what challenges you, we have all faced challenges in our lives, and that has molded us into the people who we are today.

Body I.

When I look back on my life and think about all of the times that I really wanted something so badly that I busted my butt and trained to my limit in preparation for that endeavor; that’s when I felt true success. A. I came across a quote by an unknown author that stated, “If you don’t lose, you can’t respect winning. If you don’t fail, you can’t respect success. If you don’t struggle, you can’t honor life.”

II.

An instance where I realized this was during my second month of college. This was after the high school phase wore off when everything was easy and I began to question myself.

A. Now, you might think that’s weird, that me, somebody that exudes confidence would be self-conscious, but I would not be the person I am today without the things that I’ve gone through. One late night, I thought to myself: “I want to quit and just be done with this forever. I’m miserable.” B. Immediately after, I thought to myself, am I going to throw away my future because I’m uncomfortable now and want life to be easier? Or am I going to become stronger and rise to the challenge?”

III.

Our growth as humans is dependent on the challenges we face. In my opinion, people don’t change when they’re doing menial tasks such playing PlayStation or watching Friends on Netflix. I believe that people change in the moments when they are faced with an ultimatum because they are forced to make life changing decisions and live with the repercussions of their actions.

Transition Statement: To emphasize, the former president of South Africa, Nelson Mandela, said it quite clearly.

A. He stated, “There is no passion to be found playing small in settling for a life that is less than the one you are capable of living.” B. This kind of attitude is one that I embrace, one that is not fearful of challenge, but welcomes it.

Transition Statement: We can see this attitude held by the leaders of our great country as well.

C. Barrack Obama said, “We have to tell our children that education is not a passive activity, you have to be actively engaged in it. If we encourage that attitude and our community is enforcing it, I have no doubt we can compete with anybody in the world.”

Conclusion I.

To me, Penn State has a culture that embraces challenge. A. This can be seen in our 46 hour philanthropic dance marathon where participants cannot sleep or sit for an entire weekend. To survive this weekend of fun, you need a certain degree of mental toughness.

II.

In fact, my former THON captain mentioned a quote about a friend which I’ll share with you. A. Tommy said, “He was unstoppable. Not because he did not have failures or doubts. But because he continued on despite them.” B. This mental toughness is something that leaders have. It is an attitude that embraces challenges that allows us to grow into the people who we want to become. I believe that challenge breeds excellence and is essential for growth.

Works Cited 1. United States Department of Labor. Futurework - Trends and Challenges for Work in the 21st Century Executive Summary. February 26, 2015.

2. Nsehe, Mfonobong. Forbes List. 19 Inspirational Quotes From Nelson Mandela. February 26, 2015. 3. Obama, Barrack. Light a Fire: Education Quotes. February 26, 2015.

4. Radziminski, Thomas. THON 2015 Rules and Regulations Captain. February 20-22,

2015....