"The Star" (c. 1878) by Edgar Degas
Reflect on an achievement from your past. “it could be the time you ran a 5K/10k/20K, gave a stellar performance to a packed house, or aced a class that pushed you to your limits. Think about the work you put into it, and your emotions during the process. Write down a few sentences describe the achievement and what you did to accomplish it . . . [Pay special attention to] how stress played a role along the way” (153).
Last semester me and four other of my ECU Enactus teammates travelled to New York City to present our recycled plastic project at the Enactus national competition. We stood in front of probably 250-300 powerful people, including CEOs of billion-dollar companies, and we were as close to perfect as we could’ve been. We ended up winning 2nd in the nation and were named top 40 in the world. The time leading up to that presentation was filled with countless emotions ranging from fear, shock, anxiety, happiness, sadness, rage, and so much more. Stress was a huge driving factor in pushing ourselves to our absolute limit with countless late nights, all day meetings, shouting matches over miniscule details, and surprisingly no punches thrown. Stress was overwhelming but without it then I don’t believe we would have accomplished our goal of presenting a great project, without it we would not have spent all those hours working to be better. You have to have some sort of driving force behind every action you take that pushes you past your known limits, it can be pride, fear, anxiety and more but for me it was stress. I was stressed that others would work harder than us, stressed that I would let my teammates down, stressed to let my university down. It paid off in the end and led to one of my proudest accomplishments and I wouldn’t change anything about the journey, including the stress.
ReplyDeleteI was on the Speech and Debate team in high school, and I regularly performed in front of big crowds. At the end of the year, we always put on a showcase to let the parents and friends of the performers see what we placed with at State. I placed in two events, so I was able to perform both of them at the show. These performances were ten minutes each and I was extremely nervous to be on stage in front of my peers. My stress was through the roof, my emotions were all over the place, and I was preparing like never before. I did both of my performances and they both went perfectly. The crowd loved it, and it was so much fun to do. Looking back, I would not trade my stress for anything because it made me work harder and feel more prepared for the performances.
ReplyDelete-Alexus King
DeleteMy teacher at Mid America Tech Center, Mr. Driskill, knew that I loved to write screenplays as a Graphic Design student, so in January of my second year there he asked if I would be interested in writing a stage musical using a concept he had! I was ecstatic, even after learning I had less than a month to write it. That was daunting, as I had never completed a script in that short of time, and never in that format. So in about three weeks, I took a crash course in writing stageplays and worked every spare moment I had in class and at home on it. I felt stress when I had writer's block and dealing with feedback from family, so much that it made me question if I was even able to pull it off. But the stress and the doubts made getting it done that much more joyful.
ReplyDeleteMy biggest accomplishment is simply going to college. I have 8 older brothers and sisters and I am the first kid to go to college directly out of high school and have a set goal. I spent my whole life stressing to be the top of my class. Crying when I got anything lower than an A because I was worried I wouldn't be valedictorian. When I became valedictorian of my 8th grade glass and salutatorian of my graduating glass I felt like all the nights crying over failing and stressing over tests where I knew every answer by heart had finally been worth it. When I got accepted into the honors program I knew that I had taken all of those hours of work and finally done something with them. I always stressed myself into being perfect for my parents. It eventually gave me the result I wanted but sometimes I wonder if I had to stress myself out as much as I did to get exactly where I am.
ReplyDeleteAt the end of my junior year I had an 89.4 in my algebra 3 class. I had done terribly on multiple tests and I was so stressed that I would end the year with a B and my life would be over (I’m still working on the whole optimism thing). My only chance to get an A was the semester test. I always had the opportunity for exemption, so I had never taken one before and I was stressing out. My teacher told me I needed a 92% to get an A in the class. That week, I was so stressed that I studied harder than I had ever studied before in my life. I took the test, walked to the teacher, and watched her grade it in front of me. My hands were shaking due to the stress, anxiety, and anticipation as she handed me my paper. I got a 94%. I was so relieved I hugged her and then ran out of the room into my English class (my safe space) and bawled my eyes out until I felt stable enough to drive home. After a year to think back on this experience, I am grateful for my stress because it helped me to reach the goal I was striving for.
ReplyDeleteIn high school, I had the opportunity to play solo in a piece that my concert band was performing at our district and state contests. This solo was at the beginning of the piece, and I was accompanied by only one other player of a different instrument. I felt a tremendous amount of pressure to perform this solo well at these concerts. I was under the assumption that messing it up could have cost us a whole point or more in our rating, though that was probably unlikely. Because of the stress I felt, I practiced the solo daily, both with my band director and on my own. I worked on it so much that I had committed it to memory weeks before I had to perform it. At the time, I thought the stress I felt about performing the solo was holding me back, but reflecting on it now, I know that it was the main reason that I performed as well as I did.
ReplyDeleteIn my junior year of high school, our Pom team was at a UDA camp at OU. I was trying out for the All-American team, which is where you have to learn a routine and then perform it the next day in front of judges and everyone else at the camp (OU Pom camps are not small, and 5A and 6A teams were there, which was intimidating for our little 2A squad). I knew the only way I’d be able to remember the dance was if I committed it to muscle memory, because I wouldn’t be able to think that fast with so many eyes on me. So, everywhere we walked on campus, I was practicing motions. I stayed up late practicing the same eight counts over and over until I could do them without thinking. When tryouts came, I did end up remembering the dance, and I made All-American. I definitely don’t think I would have made it if I hadn’t been so stressed and put so much effort into practicing.
ReplyDeleteMy sophomore year of high school I took Chemistry. Science classes never really clicked in my brain and Chemistry was the worst! I never really understood it and my test scores kept going down. I was an A student who was making Cs and even a D on the Chem tests, it was incredibly stressful! I told my teacher all the time how I was worried about my grade but he never seemed that concerned, which made me more stressed! The week before semester tests my grade was in the high 80s. ( I know a B is not that bad, but I wanted to keep my 4.0!) I was so stressed about making an A, I studied as I had never studied before; I wrote out the Vocab words, studied past tests and hid in my room until I was semi-confident I could pass the test. My stress helped me to study hard, and to pass the semester test with a 100, putting my final grade at a 91!
ReplyDeleteEmma Christensen ^^
ReplyDeleteThe 14th of May, 2019, was the day of my achievement. On that day, I won State in tennis. I played doubles. I won the individual state championship, and the team won the Class 4A state championship. So, the question is, how did I achieve these achievements? Simple. A lot of time was spent on the tennis courts after regular practice. I was fortunate to have friends and teammates that shared my love of the sport and committed to putting in the extra time to work towards winning State. However, winning a state championship wasn't as much what drove me to improve. It was having fun playing the sport that kept me wanting to play more. The consequence of enjoying the sport was improving my game as a whole. Stress did have a slight role in my high school career. Having to play against teammates to make the team is a prime example of the most stressful event. What would they think of me if I beat them? Would we remain friends? Fortunately, there was never bad blood between me and anyone on the team because of the competition. Still, the stress remained only until the season started. Afterward, I did not have to worry about making the team.
ReplyDeleteOne of my biggest accomplishments of my life happened during my senior year of high school. I was part of my school’s band, and we won the class 2A state championship. I spent weeks stressing over little parts that I could not get correct of our marching show. After many days of hard work, I finally was able to perfect everything I had been struggling with. It felt like the greatest thing in the world to be recognized for our talent as a band after putting in all of the time and dedication that it took.
ReplyDeleteI was awarded All-State football. This was something I have wanted all of my life. Ever since I knew about, I wanted my name to be on my highschool gym for All-State. It took a lot of hard work. I worked out and practiced every single day. I had to sacrifice spending time with friends or doing other things sometimes. But in the end I achieved it and all of the hard work was worth it.
ReplyDeleteOne of my biggest achievements of my theatre career was actually a show I got to put on this past summer, Little Shop Of Horrors. The show itself is a ton of fun, but the main accomplishment I got out of the performance was the hardships it started out with. Originally, the show was to open in Spring 2020 which we now know all to well to be the major hit of the pandemic for Oklahoma. That meant that the week of show we got shut down completely, with no hope for the show ever returning. But good news sports fans, I badgered the theatre to let us do the show again this summer and worked to pull the old cast back together again. While not many of us could make it back for the show, the new cast and I rocked the house for that weekend. The murder and suicided comedy with a giant talking plant was the most memorable and rewarding achievement I ever got to pull off, and Seymour Krelborn will be forever scarred into my memory. After all, it isn't every day you get to murder your surrogate and newly adopted father, a Statist, your love intrest and yourself all in about 90 mins!
ReplyDeleteMy senior year of high school was my third year of the Biomedical Sciences program at Kiamichi Technology Center. The optional third year came with a unique challenge, a STEM Capstone Project. This project was extremely stressful from beginning to end. First we had to write a formal research paper on our intende subject. Then, we had to design and conduct a unique research project. I chose to study the effects of disinfectants on the respiratory rate of mealworms. This project took up a large portion of my class time, so I ended up with extra homework in my other classes at Kiamichi Tech. This created an extra stressor that had not been present previously in this class.My research went as intended, and I got very good results. I also managed to pass my other classes. This is a very big achievement of mine because I am very proud of the project as well as the extra work it gave me. Without the stress, it would not have been as big of an achievement. I think this goes for all achievements, the level of pride in our work is directly tied to the level of stress the work creates. Why be proud of something that was easy to do?
ReplyDeleteI am sure every biology major here at ECU, prior to taking it for themselves, has heard the whispers in the halls or has seen the fearful O-chem students huddled outside the classroom themselves. I know I did... It's pretty infamous. Not only is it a dread here but, as I learned from my internship this summer, everywhere (except Brown for some reason). Nevertheless, My time to walk into the fire came. At first, I was burned, making a -C on my first examination... There are no curves nor any bonus to be found in this class; I was STRESSED. Thankfully though I had a whole class of peers to share my stress with. Together we were able to bare the flames. I survived the class; each test I scored better than the last until all my hard work studying and struggling culminated in a 98% on our final examination. I could have not made it out of the class without the support of my peers. Stress is best managed when it is shared.
ReplyDeleteI love driving. I find that it’s a great way to relax and clear my mind. However, I didn’t always think this way. A few years ago, driving was a terrifying prospect to me. This of course, made me a very stressed driver. When I was first learning to drive, I couldn’t even put music on for fear that it would distract me and lead to my (or someone else’s) untimely vehicular death. I got my learner’s permit in March of 2019, and I didn’t go out to get my full license until August of 2021. I did take a test to get my license in August of 2020, but I failed it for going too slow (apparently you’re not supposed to go 25 in a 60 zone). But I think that initial fear was helpful in the end. I consider myself to be a safe driver (I haven’t been in any accidents so far), and I think the stress of being scared helped me stay alert while driving, which over time developed into a habit.
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