“Never give up, for that is just the place and time that the tide will turn” is a famous quote by Harriet Beecher Stowe and I have lived by it. It was 2012 and the team and I were all twelve years old. It started out on a beautiful night, a night so beautiful that we never thought anything could go wrong for us. Much like Helen Keller overcame the obstacle of not being able to communicate, my team and I overcame the obstacle of playing in the losers bracket of districts.
Helen Keller was born a normal baby, but became blind and deaf after an illness. She had just started to learn her surroundings and words when just like that, it was all gone. It had become a very dark world for Helen Keller. As she grew, she began to throw more and more tantrums. Her parents, Kate and Captain Keller, finally agreed to get her help. Annie Sullivan became Helen’s teacher and worked with her non-stop. Helen learned to trust Annie and obey her. After she gained Helen’s trust, Annie worked on getting her to communicate through sign language. It took a lot of hard work and determination, but Helen finally learned how to communicate.
My team and I had been to the state tournament two years in a row and we thought our last year would be our easiest. Little League Baseball can take some unexpected turns though. We were heading to Bridgeport, IL for our first game against Mt. Carmel, who was the second best team in our district behind us, so we thought. We all thought that it would be a cakewalk to the state tournament but we were wrong. Mason and I played great that first game and both of us hit home runs. Despite our good performances though, we lost the game. We were all demoralized and were put into the losers bracket, which meant that we had to beat every team and win in the championship twice to advance to the sectional tournament. Our cakewalk to state had just become a fight to win districts. We decided that we weren’t gonna let anybody beat us from then on and we stuck to that. Everyone started hitting the ball and we won our way to the championship, even beating Mt. Caramel along the way. We had to win in the championship twice though, and that is just what we did. It took a lot of hard work and determination, but we won districts and even advanced to the state tournament, again.
Helen Keller’s struggles were similar to my struggles. We both looked defeat in the eye and showed the determination to not let defeat take us. We both were very close to losing our battles. In the end, we both won and went on to bigger and better things.
My team and I overcame the losing bracket of districts much like Helen Keller overcame her inability to communicate. I learned from Helen’s story that no matter how much the odds are stacked against you. there is always a way to succeed if you show determination. I learned from my story that you should never lay down and give up, because there is always a fighting chance if you have the will to succeed. As Helen Keller once said, “Keep your face to the sunshine and you cannot see a shadow”. Always stay positive, because your attitude is your greatest enemy.