AMBITION: A new cure for health?

As of November 2014, my ambition was to be able to go to school five days a week and see my friends and family on the weekends. At a first glance, that may not seem very ambitious. It is hardly a ground breaking, unique or inspiring ambition. However, this is the first thing I learnt about ambition; your ambitions have to change along with your life.

I’ve always been fairly ambitious. That year I’d got good grades, been a leader on summer camp, done exercise (well, a bit) and made new friends. Everything was going well until the beginning of the school year in September, when I started to get some strange new “ambitions” or replacements of my usual ones. My ambitions consisted of filling up my water bottle between every lesson without being late, planning my day around walking up and down stairs as little as possible, making GP appointments, constantly eating as much food as I could and trying to only stop for a break twice on my ten minute walk home from school. I was constantly going to the GP with different problems and I was lethargic the whole time, even struggling to pull open doors at school and concentrate on lessons because I was pre-occupied with hunger. I started to have mean thoughts about my friends over the slightest thing and immediately felt guilty. AlI I wanted to do was eat and sleep and I usually cried every day when I got in from school from sheer frustration of being so tired. I was envious of all my friends who seemed to have so much more energy than me. I became increasingly self-conscious about my body as my collarbone and ribs became more and more pronounced and my arms and legs looked like those of a child. People always commented that I looked tired and my skin and hair was becoming dull. Feeling lazy, greedy, grumpy and self-conscious, I sunk into a depression.

After a week of feeling particularly awful, I felt really ill one night and my mum booked me in to see the GP the next day. Shockingly, I was diagnosed with Diabetic Ketoacidosis. This is how around twenty percent of people unfortunately find out they have Type 1 Diabetes. I was rushed to A&E where I stayed in hospital for five days. I do not wish to go into detail, but the experience, especially the first night, was extremely painful, scary and consequently traumatic, giving me nightmares about blood, needles and drips for long afterwards.

When I eventually came home, I was very weak, tired and underweight. All of the symptoms and weird obsessions I have described above were linked to my onset of diabetes, not depression as I had thought. It was here that my ambitions changed; no longer was I thinking about my UCAS application and grades, but getting healthy again. But luckily I had a lot of ambition.

I had to get used to lots of new things; injecting myself 5 times a day, counting carbohydrates in every mouthful of food I ate, measuring my blood sugar levels, being able to move around properly, telling everyone what had happened, gaining weight, to name a few. This took extra ambition since I was totally unprepared for this as it was a huge shock and I had to adapt when I was still very ill. But luckily I had the support of other’s ambition too. My parents visited me in hospital covering nearly every available visiting hour, learnt about my medication with me, but generally gave me lots of hugs and encouragement whenever I felts angry, defeated or traumatised by my experiences and situation. My medical team gave me care by discussing any problems I had and tweaking my doses of insulin. My cousins, one of whom is also diabetic, have been extremely supportive of me, coming to visit me to give me advice, subscribing me to a diabetes magazine and still sending me the odd texts to see how my blood sugar levels are doing. There are many more people such as my friends, boyfriend, family, rabbi, heads of year, friends of my parents and school counsellor who have all taken an interest in learning about my diabetes. My friends and I have even made a game out of competing to see who can guess the number nearest to my blood sugar level, complete with “Oooooh”s and drumrolls as my glucometer shows the countdown. And sharing my stories about where I’ve had hypos (where you start shaking because you’re blood sugar is too low) are entertaining. The one at two in the morning and the one in the Primark changing rooms are my personal favourites.

Mine and other’s ambitions for me are for me to be healthy. This would have seemed basic a year ago but I learnt that goals have to change due to events that you cannot change. I still have the odd nightmare or high blood sugar reading but I am much better now. I learnt that many people working together towards the same ambition means that they can achieve a better outcome than one individual. Relying on other people to be understanding and helpful isn’t at all as bad as I thought it was and it helped me get closer to the people I love the most. Although my ambitions may not be as important as others diabetics such as Theresa May and diabetic athletes, they are an inspiration to me in that I know that although diabetes has held me back in the past, I still have the same potential  and ambition to achieve things on the same level as them. The most important thing I have learnt is that sometimes you have to aim for the seemingly small things in order to get you back on track for aiming for the big things. Thank you to those who have helped me along the way.

AMBITION: The right attitude

Ambition is the most significant device needed to achieve success. It is more important than talent or resources. A determined attitude can lead anyone to victory and contentment, regardless of what is put in front of them. To have the will, the dream and the courage to achieve the task set, will get you a lot further in life than any ‘natural’ talent or skill. An ambitious attitude is the essential thing. With an ambitious attitude the outcomes are endless and the gratification achieved will be greater than the countless hours put in. The skills can come naturally but the fight, will, courage and dream to be the best, overpower the talent. Talent is not talent without the ambitious driving force to work. Anyone can have ambition and the ambition can lead to talent if you do not let the hard work destroy you. How many underdogs have achieved more than previous champions? They have achieved more as they have taken their ambition to the next level, pushed themselves to the breaking point and beyond. As they improve, they want it more. They work harder than before, they pressure themselves more and they achieve more. The people who are at the top have made sacrifices to achieve their dreams. Sacrifices that they may regret, because they missed events, but at the end of the day they have more than the average person. They have their goal. Ambition allows us to fight for what we believe in. No short-cuts taken and no distractions.  Dedicated to their goals and the will to work harder: mentally and physically. Ambition always has results depending on how hard you push yourself to your breaking point and how much more you are willing to give after you nearly gave up.

AMBITION: Willpower can overcome any hurdle

What is ambition?        
It is when you look into the starry night                      
and not see the glow of the stars upon the darkness of space
but your goals,
targets and future achievements.
It is when you see yourself beyond the foreseeable
ambition is the difference between your current self
and what you see as your image once you can accomplish no more.

One with no ambition cannot accomplish anything
as they see no outcome nor improvement from any opportunities presented 
they do not build up an education or any skills for future use
because when think about themselves in several years (or more)
they see the same person
they see someone on the same level
someone unimproved,
 someone worse.

“Intelligence without ambition is a bird without wings.” 

― Salvador Dalís

One with high ambitions will accomplish far more
they will make use of any opportunities that would bring them nearer their goal
an ambitious person would build up an education and useful skills
because when they picture themselves years from then
they see someone on a higher level someone on a faraway platform
far higher than them at that time
someone who is better than they are.

“Because there was a hunger in me to see everything and do everything. I wanted to be everyone I saw. I wasn't enough for me. Can you understand that?”
― Sidney Sheldon, Bloodline

Ambition is the understanding that willpower can overcome any hurdle.         

AMBITION: A Gymnast's Dream

There is always someone better than me, but that doesn’t mean I’ll give up,

There is always something to bring me down, but nevertheless I get up.

Gymnastics is my dream and dance is my hope,

It is why I am, what I am and how I cope.

Sweat dries, blood clots, bones heal,

This is my motto.

Jump off the beam, flip off the bars,

Follow your dreams and reach for the stars.

But don’t tell me the sky's the limit,

When there are footsteps on the moon to prove it.

You can do anything as long as you believe.

I can’t always choose the music life plays for me,

But I can choose how I dance to it.

This is why the sky isn’t the limit.

AMBITION: My Problematic Fave

There is a phrase, often used on the social media website ‘tumblr’, when one refers to something as their ‘problematic fave’. This is when you like something a lot, but it has issues that distress you or you disagree with. This is what ambition is to me.

I’ve always been pretty ambitious in terms of what I would like to do or accomplish when I am older. Such ambitions include becoming an astronaut (every five year old child’s dream) and a postal worker (blame my childhood obsession with Postman Pat!). Ever since I really started to get into reading for pleasure though, all my ambition has been geared towards writing. Whether it’s through books, news articles, poetry, features, opinion pieces or reviews, I have spent the best part of the last nine years dreaming of sharing my thoughts and ideas with the rest of the world. My ambition to accomplish these things has made certain that I always have something that I am passionate about to work towards.

Unfortunately, nothing comes without caveats. The reason that ambition is problematic for me is that it requires effort. Many people will probably dismiss this issue as me being lazy, or the product of my generation – a group of young people that spends all their time hunched in front of a computer screen, in a darkened room, staring blankly at funny cat photos on the internet. This would be an incorrect assumption to make. Effort is, for most people, a very limited resource. One can only do so much before all they are physically capable of doing is hunching over a humorous cat photo filled screen. This a particular issue for my generation, as more is expected from young people, academically, than ever before. More and more children attend university than ever before (which is great – I love that there are more opportunities for people to learn about the things they are passionate about) which means that everything is more competitive. In order to enter into a field like journalism, one has to get a vast amount of experience in an industry where there is little room for the inexperienced to get any. This makes getting anywhere in the world of writing incredibly difficult due to the need to push one’s way into a system that is guarded by a force field built from multiple catch-22s.

The main reason why my ambition is to be a writer is because it is a broad enough field that I can incorporate most of the many things I have a passion for. The second major catch-22 that blocks me from achieving my goals is that in order to find time to improve my writing skills and gain experience, there is far less time available to spend on the things I actually want to write about: music, film and other forms of media that require one to sacrifice their time in order that they may be knowledgeable enough to give their opinion on.

At this point I have covered several things that contribute to my effort-o-metre. It has now reached a state where the effort levels are so high that the effort-o-metre has reached critical capacity. I have no energy left to write, listen to or play music, watch and analyse films or read enough to improve my writing, let alone work hard for my upcoming exams. This is where we come to the great the great thing about ‘problematic faves’, they’re important enough that when one’s effort-o-metre is full to bursting, there is still enough motivation left to put in that extra bit of effort even if you have none left.

AMBITION: From Evolution to Chocolate - Ambition’s Power

Life is full of ambition. If it weren’t for our intrepid ancestors who first ventured out from their hunter-gatherer ways and into an agricultural revolution, civilisation as we know it could never have been achieved. If it weren’t for the audacious scientists at NASA and the Soviet Space Programme, man would never have set foot on the moon; and, if it weren’t for the aspiring Mr John Cadbury, mankind would never have sampled the sweet, blissful taste of a Cadbury’s Dairy Milk chocolate bar. Ambition is what motivates people and makes them strive to make the world a better place, be it to feed humankind, or supply us with divine chocolate.

Ambition resonates with me. Ever since I first read a copy of The Times newspaper, I have yearned to follow in the footsteps of the great correspondents John Simpson, Sydney Schanberg and John Swain. In fact, this is why I am writing this very piece of writing now, because my ambition is to become a journalist of the highest order (Pulitzer Prize included). The American academic and former reporter Samantha Power once said, ‘I got into journalism as a means to try to change the world’; this is a mantra (I hope) all credible journalists hold dear to their great profession and one I hope to carry with me into the future as I strive to become a more talented writer.

Possessing an ambition is a gift. There are too many people in this world who seem to be content with living life for the sake of living. Humans possess an incredible ability to actually be aware of their own existence. With this consciousness, man has the capability of striving for greatness. This is why ambition should not be taken for granted and why it is infuriating to see people who don’t want to make a difference, who don’t see the need to improve the world, or who don’t even want to make something of themselves. There is always the argument that those with fewer opportunities just can’t afford to aspire to achieve great things for civilisation. But I say our modern, developed and globalised world brings such bright openings to one and all that each and every human in the established world, regardless of their background or status, can aspire to do astounding things. Ambition drives greatness and greatness makes our big, brilliant blue marble even better.

AMBITION: The pressures of academia

There was a period of time in the last academic year in which I focused on only one of my GCSE subjects. It was a subject that had eluded me since the days of primary school, when my classmates proceeded onto the “fun” challenges of extra work and I was left staring at a blank calculator screen. It was, up until year 11, universally acknowledged that I couldn’t do maths. I just couldn’t.

I hated the numbers. I hated how somehow the alphabet got involved with all the numbers. And as if that wasn’t complicated enough, somehow the Ancient Greek alphabet got involved with the numbers too and there were special signs to show different things and I couldn’t keep track of any of them because they all looked the same and it felt like I was drawing squiggles on past papers and getting marks for it anyway.

By Year 11, I was predicted a B. This letter always frustrated me whenever it was mentioned by tutors or teachers or parents, because I felt I could do better. And I could. I had spent so much time telling myself that I couldn’t do maths that I failed to realize how many people were worse at it than me. And so I worked, with the help of my selfless teacher who gave up some of her lunchtimes to help me, a friend in the year above who went over any questions I was stuck on and my sister, who threw revision books at me like I was the middle of a dartboard and she wanted the perfect score. I stayed up late every night during study leave going over what I didn’t understand. I started maths revision earlier than any other subject. I worked so hard that I started daydreaming about what my reaction would be if I opened my exam results envelope and saw an A in maths staring back at me.

I got an A. And I was so happy. I was ecstatic, crazily so for about three weeks until the excitement wore off and there was no one who hadn’t already heard my exact UMS mark in each of the specific modules I had taken.

GCSE’s are important. They require work, knowledge and dedication. Over the past academic year, I had managed to prove to myself that I was able to do maths and that I was able to get a good grade in it, but I stopped focusing on everything else. My fundamental problem with my GCSE grade was this: I had started to define myself by my own level of productivity. What happened if I hadn’t gotten an A? How would I have taken the news? Would a grade lower than I wanted mean that I wasn’t good enough?

The ruthless way society puts pressure on pupils is destructive. We focus so much on grades that they sometimes feel like they matter more than we do. Henry Thoreau is famously quoted to have said that, “ what you get by achieving your goals is not as important as what you become by achieving your goals”. I’m normally not a fan of aphorisms, but I believe Thoreau was right in this instance. My ambition, in this case, did not matter. It would not have mattered if I didn’t get the grade I wanted because I worked for it, and revised for it, and the end result proved more than my ability to satisfy criteria on a sheet. 

AMBITION: 'When I grow up...'

When I was 3, I wanted to be a cat (though I unfortunately suffered from being human).

When I was 5, I wanted to play for Arsenal (though I'm terrible at football).

When I was 8, I wanted to be a spy (though I based my future life entirely off James Bond).

When I was 10, I wanted to front a rock band (though I can't sing, dance, or play an instrument).

When I was 12, I wanted to be an author (though I get bored of anything I write beyond 2000 words).

When I was 14, I wanted to join the Peace Corps (though I realised the impact they make is minimal).

Now that I'm 17, I want to be a journalist (and yet I still feel conflicted about it).

Ambition has always seemed like a tricky issue – we have one life, and not everything we want can be achieved through it. Beyond that, much of what we want simply may be too difficult to achieve. Whether we like it or not, we have to do something that will earn us money. I'll be honest: I have, on many separate occasions, romanticised my future. The recurring vision of my future is me as an ex-pat, moving from city to city, living beyond constraints, but I know that that probably will not be the case.

The wide-eyed idealist wants to change the world, and more recently I have discovered that changing the world may be easier than it seems. One does not have to lead a revolution to do it, but simply know where to put their time and money. If I were to be a journalist, I may have a platform from which to advocate a specific cause. If I make money, I would be able to donate large sums to really effective charities. So my ambition has become to do my bit to make a mark on the world which to some extent heals it, as large as I can make it, even if it still is very small.

AMBITION: Its all in the Mind

This is an article about ambition and my ambition. It is my belief that anyone, of any intelligence, can strive to their ambition with the right mind-set. An example would be Albert Einstein; Einstein was not the smartest in his class at school and was known to not do well in examinations. Of course, we know that Einstein became a renowned theoretical physicist who is considered the father of quantum physics. Einstein famously said "Learn from yesterday, live for today, hope for tomorrow. The important thing is to not stop questioning.”. This quote gives us an important message: learn from your mistakes to better your future. Einstein is telling us that with this mind-set we can strive to great things.

My personal ambition is still ambiguous, but I know what I want to do will be to do with some kind of science--specifically astrophysics--and will have some kind of connection to space exploration. Since I was a young child, I have always been deeply intrigued by space and the universe in which we exist within. In fact, with new programmes emerging planning to colonise other planets like Mars, I often contemplate whether I would want to move there in the future. This may seem unlikely to some that we will live on other planets in the next fifty years or so, but with the recent boom of technological advancement it is highly likely that by 2030 there will be humans living on Mars.

Most people when looking at the night sky simply see a plethora of bright stars. I, however, feel a colossal sense of awe as I peer into the grandiose universe. I see the stars as opportunities - opportunities for life, science and advancement of mankind. I wonder whether advanced life, such as us, exists elsewhere in the universe, and if they exist whether we will find them in the next century.

As you can see thus far, my ambition is vastly strong for what I want to do when I am older. Nevertheless, throughout my life I hear pessimistic comments on how in order to become an astrophysicist, astronaut or engineer I need to be the 'best of the best' and need to do the difficultly deemed further maths which many fail at. I avoid computing these comments, however, as I have had the incredible realisation that with the right mind-set, and the right amount of work, anything is possible.

AMBITION: An Ode

Inspiration begins the trail, excited for what’s to come

Innocent curiosity and joy, create one

Seed in his heart for the old oak to rise,

Of Wisdom, boy your ambition, will win the Prize.

An unclear path,

The road less travelled - others take the highway, already found

Looking baffled.

But boy, oh boy, continue this journey; staying true deep inside

Crystalize, ambition, will win the Prize.

Study. Commence. Work.

Passion. Sweat. Dirt

Overgrowth crowds the forest,

 dark shadow  cast upon the way, rings beneath his eyes.

Bags from obsession and determination.

Commitment and Visualise, ambition will win the Prize.

Sacrifice.

On hands and knees. Plough through the Grit

“You’ll make it if you’re lucky, young Brit.”

One chance to write the book of life,

The Game no one can escape,

Until the ultimate escape-

…It was all just a game…

Highscore! You Won the prize..