Tenacity - Do you have it?
I had to go confirm the meaning of this word; dogged, persistent, unwilling to yield or give up, etc.
I had to retrospect before answering.
And my answer is Yes, I have it.
explain why giving examples
I am a Nigerian, by virtue of this alone, tenacity is bestowed upon me. Persistence is required for one to achieve basic things in my country, hence a greater percentage of the population acquired tenacity for survival.
Specific Examples
I am a member of a volleyball team. I began to play volleyball about two years ago and the team was preparing for a tournament, I was deemed surplus to requirements because of my deficient skills as at then. This team couldn't make it through the first round of the tournament.
Last year, the team participated in another edition of same tournament but this time got to the finals but lost. I still didn't make it to the first team and hence I didn't play a part. This did not discourage nor deter me and I continued my training, adding personal training to my schedule inorder to ensure my improvement is tremendous.
Few weeks ago, the team participated in the tournament again and this time around, I was deemed eligible to play, even in the finals. Coincidentally, we won the tournament in the only edition I was featured. I am not trying to take away the importance of my teammates in this victory but I am just saying...
we received our gold medals
I started by telling you that the average Nigerian is filled with tenacity, lemme give you an instance.
Normally, medical students reside within the hospital for ease of teachings, trainings and postings, especially clinical students.
But in my school, we only reside within the hospital during the last six months of our stay.
This means that extra effort is required on your part, in not just transporting yourself daily but also in staying back under subnormal circumstances just to acquire the knowledge/skills and not give excuses in the end.
Also within the school system, a lot of medical students find it difficult to combine medicine with work or extracurricular activities. I am among the few who venture into variety of activities including business, sports and humanitarian activities.
For the business, I began supplying of hospital equipments during my first exposure to the clinic.
I already mentioned starting volleyball and dedication of extra hours to it. I didn't mention my involvement in table tennis, badminton, snooker, chess, Scrabble and monopoly all of which I learnt as a medical student with the exception of table tennis.
I am not a pro in any, but I have achieved decent milestones in each of them that I can boast of being a good player.
Humanitarian services like outreaches are my hobbies, I enjoy giving back to the society in my own little way and so I never shy away from such.
during an outreach
after the outreach
My friends and I have a chant for difficult situations; "Give up? We don't do that here"
It's what we use as ginger to forge ahead against all odds.
We also say "na who give up, fuck up". Which means that whoever gives up has messed up.
If this is not tenacity, I don't know what else is.