“Failure: My Greatest Success” is an inspiring story written by James Hynes. It is about how after he fails, he recovers and starts working towards his next goals. In the beginning of the story, he is one of just two out of nineteen players left off of the varsity football team. He then immediately begins working towards making the sophomore basketball team. However, he is cut, and is the only of eleven players on the freshman A-team who was cut from the sophomore team. In his final sports season of the school year, track, he set out to run a mile within less than five minutes. He continued to practice, and in his final meet, he ran a mile in four minutes, fifty-nine seconds. The next year, he returns to football, only to be met with doubt from the coaches in regards to his size. However, he makes the team and eventually becomes the starting center for his team.

I can relate to this story quite a bit. Two years ago, in sixth grade, I was trying out for the Oak Bluffs Varsity Basketball team. I knew I likely wouldn’t make it, but I was still crushed when I didn’t see my name on the list of varsity players. Over the course of the season, I continued working hard, and my coach eventually noticed. Before our first playoff game, I was brought up to the varsity team, I even played in the game. The next year, I was benched at receiver and lost the second string quarterback job. However, over the course of the offseason, I practiced as much as I could, and I eventually won the starting quarterback job. Overall, I think that this is a great inspirational piece that many people can relate to.