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The Impossible Only Takes a Little Longer
by Rufino Villalva



Have you imagined what people in the 19th century would think if someone said that in the 20th century there would be a person on the moon? What about the dream of a mother with two kids trying to finish her high school studies. These sound like impossible enterprises.  There are many examples where to reach a goal creates a very common opinion of  that is impossible.  However, there are also many where those impossible goals surrendered under the hard work, passion, and firm guidance of leaders. Therefore, based on my beliefs and experiences, I believe that there is almost anything is possible if we have the passion and desire to accomplish that which really matters to us.

Start with the experiences of the men who arrived on the moon in July 20 of 1969. This was one of the greatest achievements of mankind. When John Fitzgerald Kennedy put most of his efforts to reach the goal of putting a man in the moon, his dream was the center of criticism by the press and by other political leaders for many of whom the president's idea didn't have any logical foundation. Despite this opposition the space program of NASA kept going with the only point and desire to finally have an astronaut in the sky and specifically in the moon. The critical point had closure when Neil Armstrong in the Apollo XI landed on the moon. The words on how Armstrong exemplified are so clear and tangible;  this is a small step for a person, but a huge jump for mankind.  This spews all the excitement of the believer of this idea and put down all the opposition in a position where they only have to admit that all of their doubtful thinking was wrong.

Next, in my personal experience, the example of my mom who had to raise two kids (my brother and me) and also achieve her personal goal of completing her studies in high school. As a non-traditional student when back in that time where it was unusual for a woman with kids to finish her studies, she had to try really hard to accomplish that personal goal. Most of the woman students in her similar situation ended up stopping their studies and losing the opportunity to improve their quality of life. However, even with all the difficulties of raising a family she still kept going and preparing and passing one by one, course at a time, until she received her most prized reward which was her diploma. The time on which she had to finish her studies takes three times more than a regular student, but with effort, sacrifice and hard work the goal was tangible and concrete. Like any other person who wants to achieve an important step in their life, she had people who were opposed to her sacrifice using argument such as  stay in your house  or  with that diploma you would never find a job.   Luckily, she never surrendered to those comments and with her diploma she found a better job in her town.

To sum up, in these two examples it is possible to see a tangible expression of overcoming adversities. In the first one, through calculus, statistics, and facts it is possible to go on and search for almost everything which mankind wants to strive. In the second one, faith and confidence in yourself is a powerful tool which can help anyone to reach what really matters to them.

Back to This I Believe index.

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