People that motivate you..

Pre-College Topics High School Life
1

<p>Was watching the Suns-Lakers game today. I’m a Suns fan, but watching Kobe Bryant always motivates me.</p>

<p>It’s just a feeling I thought I’d share. I don’t even like him, and recognize that he’s insanely talented, but he’s still motivational for some reason.</p>

<p>Watching him always leaves me with a little awe at how amazingly competitive and driven he is. I read his biography a long time ago and remember being shocked at his work ethic. There was this anecdote about him missing a three pointer during his rookie season, eliminating his team. He went into the gym next day, found the exact spot on the court, and shot hundreds of three pointers :slight_smile: </p>

<p>After watching Kobe play, I always feel inadequate because I don’t pursue my goals with the same passion.</p>

<p>So, who motivates you…?</p>

2

<p>Whenever I get stuck on a math problem, I always watch the scenes of Good Will Hunting where Matt Damon’s character solves problems in 5 minutes even though the same problems took MIT professors (led by a Fields Medalist) a year to prove each problem. Yeah I know the movie is fictional, but it’s still inspirational anyway </p>

<p>Then there’s this unhuman student named Ankhur Luthra. He graduated from Berkeley back in 2003 with 16 A+ marks on his transcript, a 4.0 GPA, a double major in EECS and Business, and he did that all in less than the standard 4 years. [05.05.2003</a> - Innovative engineering and business graduate Ankur Luthra named University Medalist](<a href=“http://berkeley.edu/news/media/releases/2003/05/05_ankar.shtml]05.05.2003”>05.05.2003 - Innovative engineering and business graduate Ankur Luthra named University Medalist)</p>

3

<p>nick vujicic
he’s the most joyful man i’ve ever met that gives hope to millions and knows where his treasure lies. oh, and he was born without limbs.</p>

4

<p>Barack Obama, and not 100% cause I’m black.</p>

5

<p>That’s ok, Barack Obama isn’t 100% black.</p>

6

<p>John Paulson. Bet against sub-prime mortgages and made a few billion.</p>

7

<p>^^ Lol, good point. I don’t think I am either.</p>

8

<p>britney spears</p>

9

<p>Love her. Before she went loco.</p>

10

<p>When I am down I watch the Kardashian sisters. The stupidity of their show make me feel that there are worst than me.</p>

11

<p>Pretty Wild is even worse.</p>

12

<p>o-m-g, my b…the jersey shore cast is what i meant to say</p>

13

<p>I was going to say Kobe Bryant as soon as I saw the title… The OP beat me to it.</p>

14

<p>^^ I’m gonna marry The Situation.</p>

15

<p>Michael Jordan. The man is an inspiration to me for winning.</p>

16

<p>^^ Only Africans in Africa are 100% black.</p>

<p>Most African Americans in the United States have a degree of European/white ancestry in their lineage/ancestry. </p>

<p>:)</p>

17

<p>I know. Besides, my grandparents don’t look “totally black”.</p>

18

<p>George lopez and mathboy!!</p>

<p>Also Iron Man >:]</p>

19

<ol>
<li>Chris Gardner’s Story, well more-so from the Pursuit of Happyness movie, and this one specific scene:</li>
</ol>

<p>I have it bookmarked too because I occasionally get depressed.</p>

<p>ttp://<a href=“http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=JyCMswwoHVo”>www.youtube.com/watch?v=JyCMswwoHVo</a></p>

<p>Stop watching after 2:48</p>

<p>Well here is the quote: “You got a dream, you gotta protect it. People can’t do something themselves, they wanna tell you that you can’t do it. You want something? Go get it. Period”</p>

<p>And the scene is amazing, Will Smith is my favorite actor, and the way the camera puts it at the certain angle where we are looking up to Will’s (or Mr. Gardner’s) face, as if we are inferior, really makes this scene so amazing. </p>

<ol>
<li>Well another one is from this non-fiction story that I read called, When I was Puerto Rican by Esmeralda Santiago. She came to America (I think it was around the 60s) with little knowledge of english when she was 12 years old…I think. Well, she makes a deal with the school counselor – who wanted to pull her back one year – to let her continue her education as an eighth grader, but only if she learned English in 6 months. And well, she mastered it, despite being put into a class with dumb kids; she performed at the tenth grade level in reading and writing when she was about to enter high school. She had her eyes set on this Performing Arts school in Manhattan, but she did horrible in the audition because she spoke too fast and didn’t articulate well. She quotes, "On the way home Mami kept asking what had happened, and I kept mumbling, “Nothing. Nothing happened, " ashamed that, after all the hours of practice with Mrs.Johnson, Mr.Barone, and Mr.Gatti, after the expense of new clothes and shoes, after Mami had to take a day off from work to take me into Manhattan, after all that, I had failed the audition and would never, ever, get out of Brooklyn.” Then in the next page, the epilogue, she quickly jumps a couple of decades where she’s now a Harvard student visiting her Performing Arts school reflecting back with one of the judges who was admired by her courage during the audition.</li>
</ol>

20

<p>Leonardo da Vinci, greatest mind of all time.</p>