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Princeton Supplement Essay- Choice 4- Stubbornness


papamao 1 / 1  
Dec 13, 2009   #1
Princeton Supplement Essay

Using a favorite quotation from an essay or book you have read in the last three years as a jumping off point, tell us about an event or experience that helped you define one of your values or changed how you approach the world. Please write the quotation at the beginning of your essay. 500 words

Stubbornness is the mother of Persistence

"Never stop dreaming"
- Paul Coelho, excerpt from The Alchemist

Everyone should dream and try to achieve his/her dream. No matter the dream is to become the president, run a charity organization, or simply buy one's own house, a successful person never stop, delay or doubt his pursue of ultimate goal of life. He would persistently hold the conviction that what he thinks and believes would bring him to his dream, regardless of all obstacles and discouragements. However, there is a fine line between persistent and stubborn; and this ambiguousness increasingly concerns me, as I tried to understand myself better.

As I grow older, more often I find myself firmly insisting on something different from other people's understanding. Responses from teachers and friends show that I am "stubborn" and should "use it in 'the right way'". I can not agree with them because I know these "stubbornness" came from my unyielding and unique understanding of the world, except that this persistence is either wrongly expressed or misunderstood. I feel that my "stubbornness" is making me less approachable, understandable, and collaborative, which are essential to survive in the society. Yet, these ideas, convictions, and approach to the world are part of me, and I would not be myself if I throw them away to "fit in the crowd".

I was confused by this ambivalence until I met Mr. Ni, the chairman of my high school and the Landgent Group. Once, I asked for his opinion. "You always have to hold your dream and fight toward it, because this is the key to success", said Mr. Ni, "The difference between stubborn and persistent is whether you have the required abilities to accomplish your dreams." Although we talked about many other things, this was the most significant part of the conversation, because it helped me to distinguish being stubbornness and persistence: people who obstinately pursue impractical or inappropriate goals without essential abilities to achieve them are stubborn; and people who energetically and successfully obtain others' support and overcome obstacles to achieve a seemly inaccessible goal are adventurers.

Therefore, I realized that other people think I am stubborn because they are not convinced that I will reach success by what I am doing. If I want to pursue my dream, I need to take action to defend it or prove that I made the right decision. Evermore, whenever people cast doubt on my belief or action, rather than simply step aside from the argument and be stubborn, I will actively show and convince others that I have the ability to achieve my goal, because only then I am persistently pursuing my dream.


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