There is nothing quite like the sweet taste of success. The feeling of triumph after winning a tournament or seeing the product of months and months of hard work is probably the greatest feeling in the world. Arguably everything someone does is in order to succeed in some aspect of life. Different people look to different things; entrepreneurs want their business to do well in the market, athletes want to win games and become the best they can be, doctors want to save lives, and rocket scientists want their rockets to fire properly. The list goes on and on. Losing sucks, and no one wants to fail at what they do.
In 5th grade, my teacher gave us these addition-subtraction-multiplication-division quizzes in class and we would line up in the front of the room in the order we finished. I would usually place in the top 5 but I would rarely make the number one spot. Once I did, however, I felt like I accomplished a big feat, and this sensation was largely gratifying. This feeling made me want to be the best that I could be in everything that I wanted to do. If I achieved that goal, I would be able to get a sweet taste of success.
Sports are also another part of my life in which I strive to win. Most athletes would consider winning games and achieving high rankings to be marks of success. Starting in high school, I began playing tennis competitively and I made starting lineup by my sophomore year. Due to my aggressive style of play and tenacity, I ended that season with positive win-loss ratio. During my junior year I played near the top of the ladder in singles and the number 1 spot in doubles, losing only twice in doubles. The following year I went virtually undefeated in doubles, losing only once in the postseason tournament, in which I was seeded 2nd. I think this would be considered a “successful” high school career by standard measures.
My aspirations for success also transfer to an industrial perspective. In the fall quarter this year, I joined the UCLA rocket project in hopes to make the most of my undergraduate education in aerospace engineering prior to working in the real world. Like any engineer, I want to see the final product of my efforts “launch,” in this case, literally. Since the second week of the quarter, the team has been working extremely hard to perfect and improve on last year’s rocket. We are building a 16-foot rocket from scratch, and it would be fantastic if it fires properly in June. Should it launch 25,000 feet into the air as planned, it would truly be the greatest accomplishment of my life.
Comments