The Hard Work Will Pay Off

"They learned the same lesson that Alex Williams would learn nearly a century later - a lesson crucial to those who wanted to tackle the upper reaches of a profession like law or medicine: if you work hard enough and assert yourself, and use your mind and imagination, you can shape the world to your desires." (151)
-Malcolm Gladwell, Outliers

"The Three Lessons of Joe Flom," is a chapter the explains the relationship between the success and hard work of an individual. Gladwell tells a story about a Jewish immigrant, Louis Borgenicht, who moved to New York with his wife (Regina Borgenicht) and their child, with enough money that would only last them a few weeks. (139) Once Louis and his family got settled in an apartment, he started walking the streets during the day to look for a job that would pay for his rent. Louis tried selling fish, towels, tablecloths, notebooks, bananas, socks and stockings. None of which would be able to feed his family of three plus a newborn on the way. Louis continued to walk the streets until he found something that was unique and no one had been selling already. It soon came to him, "It was clothes." (140) Louis was good at making clothes, which made him determined to find a piece of clothing that people were wearing but that wasn't being sold. "One of the girls [playing hopscotch] was wearing a tiny embroidered apron over her dress...he had never seen one of those aprons for sale." (141) Louis then went home and started making and selling aprons with Regina, until he started hiring immigrants to work for him, and then he became his own boss. (149) If the hard work being done has a relation between effort and reward, it is independent and creative, and it has a level of difficulty, the hard work is meaningful. (149-150)

Although one may have a lot of work to do at one point in time, if that individual works hard and pushes themselves for that time being, their hard work will pay off in the end. As grade twelve students, I think everyone of us can relate to this as our workload does get overwhelming at times but it is just going to prepare us in our future.