Perseverance - the essay

“You can get 100 ‘no’s’ from people but only one ‘yes’ from God. And that one ‘yes’ from God, is all you need!”

-Tyler Perry

The first time I heard this, I was touched; I felt as if it was calling to me. About a night before I heard this, my parents gave me the “talk.” Well, I knew it’d come. They talked to me about how magic is just a hobby and I can’t do it for a living. I’m not sure if any of you have gone through this, but the thing you need to do, is persist.

For further information in anti-magic parents, I am proud to reference, adjones’ essay, “Anti-Magic” parents. I highly recommend reading it!

In this short essay, I will attempt to cover all the points of perseverance and determination in either life, a career, and of course, magic. I felt the need to talk about this because people like me, come across situations that are hard to deal with and problems getting back up. Obviously, this topic has been covered by other people, as well, but here is my side of it.

First off, there is absolutely NOTHING wrong with making mistakes and having bad days or bad performances. In my opinion, it is a greater outcome. Now, I’m not saying to go out, and mess-up in all your performances. I’m just saying that mistakes and mess ups will always help you in the end. It’ll teach you how to fix those mistakes and always keep trying!

A lot of you might recognize the name, Dr. Seuss. He is now known for writing children’s books and very successful. But he wasn’t at all successful when he started. He wrote a book/story and gave it to the publisher, but they rejected him. They told him, it wouldn’t be a “hit” they just didn’t publish it. He tried publishing his stories for about 500 times! But the 501st time (I’m making that up) they finally gave him a chance, and published one of his stories. And soon enough, it WAS “hit” and he became history of one of the greatest children’s writers. I think, the moral of the story, is to not give up. In everything you do.

In the movie, Pursuit of Happyness, (I highly recommend that movie) Chris Gardner and his son live on the streets of San Francisco. Chris is trying to find a job, while paying for rent, taking care of a son, and having to live in subway bathrooms, at times. After a long time, Chris gets a job, and now, he’s a multi-millionaire. From rags, to riches, literally.

It’s going to seem like I’m going to give you lots of examples, so please bare with me! In the movie, Pursuit of Happyness, Chris Gardner (Will Smith) says to his son, “Hey. don't ever let somebody tell you...you can't do something. not even me. All right? You got a dream...you gotta protect it. People can't do somethin' themselves, they wanna tell you you can't do it. If you want somethin', go get it. Period.”

Again, that is saying, to never let people tell you, you can’t do something. (Just like the quote says) I think this is very important to become famous or great. I just want to add, that you don’t have to be famous to be great. It might not make a lot of sense now, but I guarantee, it will later on. Most famous people, who are famous now, are old. But when they were children, maybe living in the very early 1900s, they didn’t have a lot – probably not much at all. But how did they become the people they are today? My answer is, with hope, luck, and perseverance. Nothing in their way, can stop them.

Take American Idol for example; people who were not the American Idol have become more famous or well-known than the people for actually won. They’re more successful. Instead of giving up on their singing career, they kept pursuing it. That’s what persevering is. You got to keep going!

Nothing can stop you. So, let’s talk about the reason that most of you (magicians) are reading this. How can you preserve or protect your dreams in magic? I’ve mentioned earlier that how parents can be a big part in your magical career, if you will… Again, adjones does an excellent job talking about this. When my parents told me stuff, like “magic is just a hobby” or “magic is a really hard thing to do, find something else” or “get a degree in something else.” Right now, before you get any impressions of my parents, they’re not like that. They’re awesome, I am just frustrated at the moment. Of course, after hearing this speech, I was confused and unsure of what to do.

When you come across this case, a good friend, told me about how, even though they might tell you, you can’t do magic, still pursue it. What I mean by this, is DO get a degree in something. This is for, if you don’t do anything in the magic industry. I guess, what I’m trying to say, is, don’t depend on magic. I know that it’s a great thing to do, and most of you probably want to do it as a job when you grow up, but always have a back up plan. While getting educated, you can still perform and learn more about magic! I still cannot emphasize anymore on how much you can still have dreams for magic. Always look ahead!

Another part that magicians come across magicians, is messing up in a performance. Magic is diverse hobby. I say this because, other common hobbies, such as playing the piano, playing basketball, or sewing, are forgiving hobbies. You may mess up while performing them, but people can forgive you - you just move on. It’s not the same with magic. If you mess up in a magic trick or an illusion that you’re performing for an audience, you’re screwed. Well, I shouldn’t say that. It’s just very hard to recover from that hard of a fall. Just in that one, minute mistake, people might look down on you. I’m sure everyone has come across this situation, even the hard core professionals. And mistakes are what it take to become great. What can I say? Keep moving forward! Keep up with everything, don’t fall behind, keep moving. (And keep a smile on you’re face )

I’ve come down to the conclusion point. I hope that this essay brought you some thoughts and inspiration, as it has done to me. Hopefully, you will go into the big world and be uplifted by big mistakes! This was my chance to explain to you guys, of how to become someone great. And with a bit of luck, I encourage you to try new things. I really truly, sincerely hope, this has uplifted you in some significant way; whether it’d be in life, a job, or magic. I hoped you enjoyed reading this, and wish you a happy good day!

I liked it, but it had a bit too many examples. Try and take a few of them out and make more of the essay "you", not other stories. Other than that, it was a little rough, but I liked it. Good job!

I think you got a little punctuation happy. Way too many commas. It was just one thing I noticed, because when I do read, I pause at every comma that I see. So it was just something that stuck out for me. It's also something you should watch while typing essays, because teachers will also notice it, and then dock points.

As for the essay, I enjoyed it. I don't read many essays on this site. But I thought I'd give this one a chance. The message was a very good one, and very well explained. I'm also impressed that you do suggest getting a back up plan.

Going to college, and getting a degree is very important. Magic is a great art. However, the simple truth is that it is hard to make a career out of. But if you get a degree in something like theater arts, business, english, psychology, sociology, etc; you actually are benefiting so much. First, you are getting more knowledge that can better your magic and performances. Second, you have that back-up plan, just in case you need to do something else. Personally, I'm pursuing a doctorates in theology and psychology. I'm a full-time professional entertainer, but I know that it's hard to do. And getting a good education can only help in the end.

Sorry for the little rant there, but I thought it fit in. Just one more piece of advice. Never announce that you are giving the conclusion. That should be self evident.

All in all though, it was a good essay. A little rough around the corners, but the message was good.

Thanks, Drew and fallingblood.

Fallingblood, it means so much coming from you. It really made my day.

Thank you for reading!

Any other feedback regarding my essay, or any add-ons to persevering?

Its cool that you wrote it and all. But i dont really understand how someone of your age can write an essay about persevering in life. Sorry.

I'm not sure if I understand...is that a good thing? Or a bad thing?

It just like, you are not old enough to have faced any really hard struggles in your life. So i dont see how you can give advice on persevering through tough times.

Absolutely true.