Overcoming Adversity: Real Life Success Stories

Victory can come through adversity. We can learn from the situation and overcome. Perseverance can also bring us closer to our goal. Our success ultimately depends on our response and willingness to learn and persevere.

Real Life Success Stories:

▏Booker T. Washington rose from slavery and became one of the most influential leaders of his time

Booker T. Washington was born a slave. After emancipation he moved with his family and began working in a salt mine. Although, regular schooling wasn’t really an option, he attended night school while working during the day. Later, he enrolled at the Hampton Normal and Agricultural Institute and graduated at the top of his class. Then, he began teaching. In 1881, Washington became a principal at the age of twenty-five and eventually founded Tuskegee Normal and Industrial Institute – currently, Tuskegee University. Booker T. Washington was a political force, wrote books, and has been awarded honorary degrees.

▏Albert Einstein became one of the most influential scientists despite his early struggles

Before Albert Einstein revolutionized physics, he struggled in school. In his early years, it was hard for some of his teachers to understand him. As a young adult, professors did not always understand him either which made it hard for him to get recommendations for work. Einstein struggled to find and keep jobs, but he could not give up on his dreams. Eventually, he was able to secure a job at a patent’s office, examining patent applications. It was during this time that he was able to develop his methodology on relativity – and in 1905 changed the world of physics. In 1921, Albert Einstein achieved the Nobel Prize in Physics.

▏Share Your Story

Reflect on the challenges you have faced. How you have grown. There are times, perhaps many instances, where you have overcome adversity. Continue to see them as opportunities.