Response

Ambition

Ambition is key. It unlocks doors that allow you to reach your full potential. It can stem from inside of you or it can come from outside sources. Everyone has their own outlook on ambition, which can come from personal struggles, inspirations or coaches. Its something that allows you to dig deep to find which goal best fits for you.

Take me as an example, my ambition is to further my education. None of my family has ever gone to college, but I want to be the first one to go. However, college is expensive, so I had to make sure that I would be able to afford it. My goal was to go to Bowling Green, but I had to make changes due to the cost. Since I knew I didn't have the money and I didn't apply for any scholarships I had to choose a better alternative. I decided to look at local community colleges that would be covered by financial aid. Even though it wasn't the college that I planned on going to, I still was able to maintain my goal by choosing a different route. It may look like my ambition was shut down, but I am still going to transfer, get my college degree, and manage the debt that is still yet to come.

Although we may  view my situation as a reward, ambition can be looked at as a risk and lead to disappointment. For an example, let’s take an eighteen year old girl named Mariah, who is a singer. She has been singing since she was three years old and is very talented. One afternoon she decided she wanted to try out for American Idol. So Mariah went  to Chicago and auditioned, and she made it through her first round. Mariah had to sing again that next week for round two, and she didn’t make it due to the wrong song choice. Mariah was devastated; she no longer thought her goal would be accomplished. Mariah felt that her only shot of making her dream come true was within that moment. What Mariah struggled to see was the fact that she went out and auditioned was huge. Even though she didn't make it through the second round there are more opportunities for her to pursue her goal. Winning wasn't the only option. She may not have a recording contract right now, but since she has already been on national television she could still gain fans, Which could lead to her having local concerts, and a new beginning to reach her goal in a different way. Nevertheless, even though Mariah didn't make it through her second audition, the ambition that she had helped her spread her voice to a broader audience and show a different way to succeed.

Similar to the aspiring singer, an example of an Olympian athlete may have obstacles that can also lead to disappointment. Let's take an Olympic runner for an example, Chris Bowes is twenty- two years old, and has been running since he was in the 6th grade. Every day he dedicates his time and effort running on the track to strive for his goal. His main goal is to be able to finish a race within so many seconds and earn an Olympic medal. Chris has been asked to run in the spring Olympics for track and field. Chris feels this is the best opportunity  and now he is ready to show the world how much he truly wants this Olympic medal. He starts to run and makes it to the finish line, he then realizes that he didn't win first place. Chris won third place in the race and became very upset. What Chris failed to realize is this was his first race competing with other Olympic runners just like him. He didn't know it took more work than just running on a track everyday. Despite Chris being upset, he didn't want to stop running just because he didn't win first place. Instead he recognized he needed more improvement, and if he would work harder there would be a better outcome. In all, this gave Chris more ambition to refocus on his goal to win a gold medal.

The three examples that are given are to show different perspectives of ambition.  Although, there were different outcomes, ambition did not fail. We looked at Mariah for instance, a talented singer. Mariah's ambition brought her more opportunities to succeed. We looked at an Olympic runner. We noticed that to become an Olympian runner is hard work, but with Chris’s objective to win his ambition allowed him to refocus what he needed to improve on. We also looked at me as an example. I want to be the first to further my education, but I had to choose a different alternative.  Ambition is that specific key to unlock doors that allow you to attain your goal. You determine your outcome of how it will be achieved. Now, allow me to ask, is ambition a negative or is it a positive?