Have you ever wanted something so bad but quit on it because you didn’t know how to get it? Has anyone ever told you to work harder at something? Well that might have been what you needed to do. I believe hard work creates great opportunities.

“Do you all have your homework done?” My mother always checked before I was able to do anything on school nights. Blowing off school and homework has never been an option for me. I make straight A’s, but I work very hard for them. I shoot for a great GPA throughout high school, and college for that matter. Even though I’m just a freshman, I still get opportunities others may not. For instance, People to People is an organization that invites students with good academics to go on trips around the world. I have received a few letters from them. Some day my hard work will pay off. I will get the choice of my college and it can help out my parents because I could qualify for a scholarship.

Saving money and getting into a good college are not the only things that can show you hard work pays off. Four and a-half years ago, I took a sixteen hour referee certification class. My parents told me that if I wanted to get myself things I needed to start to look for a source of income. Of course, as a twelve and a-half year old that could be very difficult. I love sports and soccer has always been my favorite, so I decided that that was where to start. In order to get my referee license I had to pass the evaluation test with an 85% or better. Every year I show my dedication to the job by taking a five hour class to recertify. Since I began getting the money I needed a have saved up a lot of it but I use some to just buy things to treat myself and others. I have more opportunities to buy the things I want since I work hard to earn it.
Some opportunities come for you alone; other opportunities can come by a group working hard together. Five years ago, 16 fifth graders made the 93’ Storm select soccer team. I was one of those 16 girls. That season we won one out of 16 season games, and zero of the who-knows-how-many tournament games. It was a very sad, depressing season. But as we stuck with it, and grew older, new girls joined in to play with us so we improved greatly. After nine seasons our team reached the premier rank as we finished last season first in our league. Our team worked hard to get where we are. We ran into problems along the way, but as a result we have accomplished a great task. If our team hadn’t tried so hard to accomplish what we wanted then we never would have had the opportunity to move up to premier.

The greatest opportunities in life are brought to us by hard work and dedication. If we only try for the things we want, they will be easier to get a hold of, and more appreciated in the end. My life has taught me that in order to succeed you must give all you have. So running into problems along the way shouldn’t get you down, keep going for the gold!

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