Dear Editor,

As we embark upon a new week — a new week of productivity and new opportunities — I would like to share with the nation’s youth a part of a presentation I did some time ago on ‘Hard work through perseverance’.

Let me begin by looking at what these words mean. Hard work means “a great deal of effort/endurance’. And perseverance means “construed effort to do or achieve something despite difficulties, failure or opposition”.

For those of you who are in school, consider it a privilege to be there because the United Nations Educational, Scientific and Cultural Organization (UNESCO) reports that 263 million children and youth worldwide are out of school.

What does this mean? It means that you have been afforded with the privilege of attaining a good education and, therefore, you ought to make the best of the opportunity presented to you. This requires hard work and perseverance.

The American politician Newt Gringrich said, “Perseverance is hard work you do after you get tired of doing hard work you already did.” Therefore, when you have worked extremely hard on the mathematics problem, and it is still problematic, persevere!

When you cannot understand why you have not got a call back after sending multiple job applications, try again.

When it appears as though you have exhausted all your options, give it one last try. Who knows? That last attempt that you fail to give a shot may just have been your breakthrough!

In a very famous poem Don’t Quit, by an anonymous poet, there are two lines which read: “Don’t give up though the pace seems slow. You may succeed with another blow.”

So this week could be your breakthrough, it could be the week in which you figure out something that had been previously difficult. It could be the time you defy all the odds.

In the meantime, keep putting in the hard work and persevere.

Kimberley Thompson

kimberleythompson81@yahoo.com