Burlington High School
Burlington, Kansas
Teacher Devra Parker
Striving for Excellence
Blake Hanson
12th Grade
Not all people would say that the Americans are still striving for excellence. If we really take a look at the facts, we could see that Americans are not lazy. For instance, we are the only world superpower, so why would the United States want to become relaxed and think nothing would happen? After the 9/11 attack, the United States really opened their eyes to the fact that we are not in excellence with every aspect of our lives. Men, woman, boys, or girls may ask the question, “What is excellence?” Is excellence just a dispute of the public eye, a state of affairs that will never be agreed upon? Striving for excellence pertains to every person in this nation, if it did not we would not be a world superpower that we are. So, has this nation lost step with what anyone could call excellence?
Excellence is something we must strive for to become better then someone we are competing against. We want to be excellent in all that we do; that is why there are professional teams. To them they have reached excellence in their skills. People in this world push their kids into striving for excellence. That could be a point where they turn from it. You can only be as good as you try to be, if you have no desire to be great or excellent in a field or sport, we should not be pushed. I have yet to reach the goal of excellence; this could be a life-long objective to achieve. If one day I opened my own business, made the income I would be looking for, and got recognized for the accomplishments I do, then I would have reached excellence.
The United States is a world superpower, the only world superpower. We became this world superpower because of the guys on top that lead this country. Those men have seen what it takes to be at the top. They knew it would be perfection and excellence that would rule this world. As we look at the world today we can see what they seen. We control most situations, take action in things we do not like; a perfect example is the Iraq war. The only reason the United States is a world super power is because we strive for excellence in this nation. Our Army, Navy, and Air Force are excellent branches of armed forces. Our forces always come out on top, never seem to crumble, and further more never run from a fight. So when other nations seem to be in a dilemma they always seem to be calling on the United States armed forces. We strive for excellence; if we didn’t we would not be a world superpower, and we would not have the money and resources we do.
The key to achieve the goal of excellence is self-confidence. If we do not have self-confidence we do not attain excellence. When competing against individuals for a certain job we must to have that self-confidence so that we know we will do an excellent job to impress your boss. The boss of a major corporation is looking for excellence. He or she will hire a person that looks positive, talks to them confidently, and also can show them how certain they are in the job they do. Everyone knows that a confident person will go a long ways. They achieve many goals and do an excellent job at their duties. Looking back at my jobs and interviews I was did not have the confidence that I needed.
So has the United States and the United States citizens forgotten what excellence is? No absolutely not, we are on top of the world now, a world superpower. If we want to stay in control, win the wars, and help those in need we must stay above the excellence level. We have never lost sight of the excellence this country is about, we are just striving for a higher perfection. We need to become a better country if we plan on supporting others. Iraq is looking to us for our support because they know that we are an excellent country that gets the job done. Those who think that the United States has lost sight of the excellence we once had need to look again. We have great branches of military, money to support the government, and the people to lead this great nation. To say that the United States is adrift of excellence is saying we have lost our determination to be the best.
Answers To Questions Re: Required Reading
Ask Yourself:
Q1- Am I really where I want to be?
No, I tend
to be living and working to make a great living.
Q2- Am I moving in the direction that will enable me to make the greatest contribution?
Yes
Q3- If I could achieve my highest goals, what would my accomplishments look like?
I would be a business
owner, wealthy and at the top of the work force.
Q4- Do I recognize excellence and search it out or do I find mediocre acceptable and am willing to settle?
I
recognize the excellence and search it out
Q5- Do I seek out people, books, movies and other things that encourage me to be the best I can be?
No
Q6- Do I recognize the best in others?
Yes
Time Article
Q7- Do you agree with Morrow (paragraph seven) that: "Excellence demands standards. It does not usually flourish in the midst of rapid, hectic change. This century’s sheer velocity has subverted the principle of excellence; a culture must be able to catch its breath."
Yes, I do believe there is a standard for excellence. You achieve excellence through a period of time, which takes hard work, dedication, and determination to be in the standard of excellence.
Q8- Interpret this quote
from paragraph nine: "Woe to them that are at ease in Zion."
I believe this quote
from the Bible means that you can not truly be at ease with yourself tell you
achieved the highest goal.
Q9- Argue pro and con Morrow's contention that "Americans not yet successful (the struggling, the underclass) are apt to aim at ease, not excellence?"
The pros to this are
that if an underclass person aims low and succeeds they will feel more
confident about what they are doing in their jobs or whatever it is they do.
So when they accomplish this the next step would strive for excellence in what
they do. The con is if they fail to even aim for ease they won’t to strive any
longer in what they are doing. So they will just give up, I think that’s where
we see most of our struggling society.
Q10- Explain what Morrow means when he says (A) "the confusion contaminates character and disables ambition." Do you agree?
When you get confused or
lost about your goals you tend to get side tracked or you don’t fall through
with them. This causes you to lose your character you have created throughout
the years to be lost. You always must follow your ambition, doing this will
set you in excellence.
Q11- Argue pro and con the effect of over stimulation and under stimulation as discussed in paragraph 10.
First the cons of this
problem seem to be that our nation is evolving so rapidly that people can’t
take in all of the new things at once. Back in time excellence only took a
little bit of effort because they did not have as much as we do now. The pros
seem to be we have great technology and great sources of communication.
Q12- Contrast practical excellence with metaphysical excellence as used in Morrow's last paragraph.
He talks about things being destroyed over time, or defaced, or else misunderstood. Practical excellence is something we achieve in our own lives and in our own minds that no one can take away from us. Metaphysical excellence is something that we can create, which can be destroyed by anything or anyone.
Quotations from Key
32 found at the end of your
required reading
Q13- Copy and interpret your two favorite quotes. Explain why you chose them.
“Be not angry that you cannot make others as you wish them to be, since you cannot make yourself as you wish to be.” – Thomas Kempis (1380-1471)
You cannot shape and mold people into how you want them to be, because it is impossible for you to turn out just how you want to. I chose this quote because it is a fact of reality. People are more different in themselves than with others. So to get along with others and be satisfied you must make compromises.
“Not in the clamor of the crowded street,
Not in the shouts and plaudits of the throng,
But in ourselves, are triumph and defeat.” – Henry Longfellow (1807-1882)
We are the ones that control how things turn out. We can not rely on other to do our jobs, we are the ones who control our fate. This is something that will remain true through time, we are the ones who either fail or win over someone else.