The Motive: Determination

Jake Hanashiro #8

6A January 7, 2015

The Motive: Determination

“Failure will never overtake me if my determination to succeed is strong enough.” -Og Mandino.

When my team was at soccer practice one day, we were doing drills like conditioning, sprints, fisherman or chain tag, and finally, a small scrimmage. After practice, my coach was talking to us and he said, “Do you want to know why I yell at you all the time?” Without waiting for us to answer, he said, “I yell at you because I care about you.”

We all were quiet as we processed his words. I thought, Why do you care about me. What do you see in me that makes you care? “I yell at you because I want you to be determined to succeed. I yell at you because I can see that you can become a great soccer player,” he said, “and if I stop yelling at you, then you know that I don’t give a crap anymore.”

When a cocky kid on my team heard my coach swear, he started started laughing like a hyena. When my coach heard the kid laughing, he said in a very loud, serious tone of voice, “I’m serious! I can see in each and every one of you, that you can become very good soccer players,” he continued, “I want you guys to become great soccer players so that I can say, ‘Hey, Jake? Yeah I know Jake. In fact, I trained him when he was eleven years old.’ If I can’t say that, then I failed and you failed miserably. That is why I yell at you, to make you determined to succeed.”

We all thought about this and soon, we started to realize that that is what he was trying to get through our heads: determination. Now I try to become the greatest