The other day, I was working on some of my math homework, and there was this one problem I just couldn't get my head around. The question went something like this, "There is a three by three square made out of nine dots. Is it possible to connect these dots with four straight lines and without picking your pencil up from the paper? If so, show how." I worked over a span of two days trying to figure out the solution. I tried folding, trial and error, and even considered cutting the thing up, but I still couldn't find the answer. I was beginning to think it was a trick question and it was impossible after all, but from my experience of math questions, it usually isn't that simple. I was beginning to doubt my ability. Part of my brain was trying to convince me to give up and just leave that question blank, but I was determined to find the solution.
And, at last, after drawing and redrawing those nine dots an innumerable amount of times, I managed to connect every dot with exactly four lines. No cheating. It was only later that I realized it wasn't my mathmatecal ability that at last led me to the solution, it was my stubborn determination. I was bound and determined to discover the answer. Without this mental toughness, I would not have succeeded.
In fact, without mental toughness, I'm not sure I would have survived my first two days of college. I've already discovered that college requires you to combat with many different challenges in a very short amount of time. Whether it is working on a difficult math problem or making my own snow cone at my first college party, college life presents dozens of new experiences every day. All of these changes and challanges propose difficulty, but I am learning quickly how to stay focused and determined even when I feel like giving up.
It's like what our black and gold t-shirts say, "Keep calm and be a bulldog." I think this has become our class's unspoken mantra. If we just keep calm and stay mentally tough, I know we will all succeed at TLU.
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