I had a professor in college who told us on the first day of class that if we needed a tutor for that subject, we weren’t going to make it.
The same professor told us that there was no such thing as a “perfect 4-part counterpoint”. (Fellow music majors will know what I’m referring to…..)
So, imagine my shock when I had this staring at me as she passed back our homework one day:
Do you see those three, little, blue digits in the top right corner?
100.
Yes, a “perfect 4-part counterpoint”. The so-called impossible had become possible and actually done by a student not even close to the top of her class. I was so far away from the top that my professor asked my tutor if she had done the assignment for me before passing it back.
I’ve kept this solitary assignment from that class not as a bitter “I-sure-showed-her” trophy, but more of a reminder that when the odds are stacked against me, I can still succeed. When I doubt my abilities and I’m a few percentages away from failing, I can still succeed. When the rubber meets the road and I have to double down so hard that I get headaches from trying to comprehend new information, I can still WOW people into awe of the success. It’s proof to me that I’m capable, intelligent, and unable to give up when things don’t go the way I’d like.
It’s this determination and stubbornness that glows in the midst of facing new challenges: a new camera body, new editing software, and definitely not least of these–child birth (yikes!). Who knew that a piece of paper and three digits could be so powerful?
