Success in Contemporary America

Success in Contemporary America is having a goal or a dream and working hard and being determined to accomplish it. Success is also having great sacrifice and over coming adversity to achieve your dream or goal. Two people who demonstrate these traits of success are Gabby Douglas and Bethany Hamilton. Gabby is a young gymnast who started from the bottom and worked her way up to the top in just a few short years. Bethany was only 14 when a shark bit off her left arm causing her to have to start over in surfing.

Having a goal is the first step in becoming successful. By setting a goal or having a dream you are giving yourself something to work towards. Gabby Douglas had a dream of make it far as a gymnast. Once Gabby has this goal she did everything in her power to make sure that it would happen. While gabby was training in Virginia her coaches were constantly putting her down and telling her she wouldn't go far as a gymnast. Despite what her coaches were telling her Gabby did not let them take her away from meeting her goal. She worked hard and put in the effort and she soon saw her dream of going far as a gymnast.

Bethany Hamilton had a dream of becoming a great surfer. She had made great progress and was on the road to making this dream come true when her left arm was bitten off by a tiger shark. Only one month after Bethany's shark attack she was back in on the waves surfing. When asked if she was afraid off another shark attack Hamilton said "I am more afraid of never surfing again then a shark attack" Bethany knew what she wanted and she was not going to let anything not even losing an harm stop her from becoming a great surfer. Gabby and Bethany were both passionate about the goals they set. Having these dreams and being willing to do anything to make sure they came true helped these two girls become successful.

Just having a goal is not the only thing you need to be successful. Once you have goal you must work hard and be determined to achieve it. Bethany thought that once she got out of the hospital she would be able to right back into surfing she learned that it would take a lot of hard and determination to be able to surf again. Not only did Bethany have to learn to surf with only one arm she also went through intense work out every day to make her legs stronger so that she could kick fast and stronger to make up for her missing arm. "I guess I just like to challenge myself and push myself harder to do things that I don't think I can, to do things that other people do not think I can. It pushes me. I push my own personal limits." Bethany was not expected to ever be a good surfer again but she was determined to prove everyone wrong and she did. Bethany went on to win much more surfing