Christine Ha had a problem. She was in the middle of a very competitive cooking event, where the task was to make an apple pie. Simple enough, except that, for reasons unknown, she took a little too much time preparing the pie, leaving only 18 minutes for the pie to cook. (In case making apple pie is new to you, most take about 40 minutes.)
When it came time for judging, the time element was clearly on her mind. Through tears, she apologized for the quality of the pie, and promptly received support and encouragement from judge Gordon Ramsay, the chef best known for yelling and swearing at chefs.
It turns out the pie was, in a word, perfect—not easy to do when juicy apples make most pies soggy. Christine was greatly relieved to hear this, in part because she couldn’t see what the pie looked like.
That’s because Christine Ha is blind, the first blind contestant on Master Chef, and therefore the first blind contestant to win the competition, including a prize of $250,000.
Mandy Harvey started her music audition in a rather unusual way. She took center stage in front of hundreds and promptly made herself at home by taking her shoes off. Counselors don’t typically encourage this behavior for job interviews, but Mandy explained her shoeless feet could feel the rhythm of the music better, leading to a better performance.
The approach paid off. The judges were impressed with her singing, her ukulele playing, and the composition of the original song she performed. Combined with her sunny disposition, Mandy passed the audition, and went on to the final round of the auditions with ease, even though she couldn’t hear the roaring approval of the audience.
That’s because Mandy Harvey is deaf, having lost her hearing in her late teens. Despite this, a lifelong love of music eventually helped her build a different approach to her passion, an approach that made all the difference in the world. “After I lost my hearing, I gave up” she said, “but I wanted to do more with my life than just give up.”
Paul Potts was also a musician, but he had a different challenge. A cell phone salesman, Paul has the look of someone who spends the better part of his weekend watching football, an appearance that often hid a dream he’d long harbored that had little to do with football. He wanted to sing opera.
Paul took lessons, and largely kept his dream to himself, until he finally decided to go to an audition. The big day came, and Paul’s demon appeared—self-doubt. What if he wasn’t good enough? What if he got too nervous? He went to a local bar before the audition, and concluded the best way to decide whether or not to audition was to flip a coin. And off he went.
Over 2 million record sales later, Paul Potts is living the dream he almost denied himself, still rather reserved. I don’t know if he watches much football.
Fall of senior year is a pretty busy time, and everyone has their challenges, many of which would want to rob us of our hopes, our dreams, and our ability to move forward. Overcoming those obstacles involves two things—knowing you can, and knowing others have come before you and overcome their challenges.
All that’s between you and the college dream is a form that takes 25 minutes to complete—85 if there’s an essay. Christine, Mandy, and Paul are living testimonies to the possible. It’s time you joined their company.
No comments:
Post a Comment