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Universal Perseverance, By Maya Angelou

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Maya Angelou once said, “You may encounter many defeats, but you must not be defeated. In fact, it may be necessary to encounter the defeats, so you can know who you are, what you can rise from, how you can still come out of it”. Perseverance is exactly that: overcoming struggles and not being defeated. There are many different ways to interpret the meaning of the word perseverance. This is the idea that will be explained in this paper. Perseverance is the topic of this essay because it is a main theme that has been explored in the books read by the freshmen English class. Perseverance is an idea that mostly has one definition, but the meaning of the word can be understood many different ways by different people. Perseverance is a universal …show more content…

It is a concept that has been shown to me by my parents’ struggles throughout their lives. My dad persevered to get where he is today. He grew up fairly poor and was determined to make a better life for himself, so he didn’t let anything get in the way. Even when he was eighteen living in a dilapidated nine dollar hotel and hanging power lines in the bitter Iowan winter, he didn’t give up. He said that even though he felt hopeless, he knew he had to preserve. Perseverance is not giving up when facing struggles and my dad is the embodiment of that concept. By my dad persevering through his struggles, he showed me that I cannot let obstacles be my demise. Another person who has displayed perseverance in my life is my mom. When I was about four, my loving, caring grandma died. This greatly affected my mom, but even though she was in pain she put on a brave face for me and my brother, and I think that this is a great example of perseverance. This also makes me want to be brave and have perseverance when I face challenges in my own life because if she got through hard times in her life then I can too. The people around me have shaped my idea of perseverance by the way that they have displayed it in their

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