Adversity is a learning opportunity to achieve success.

[Music]

keep your faith to the sunshine

and you cannot see a shadow

this inspiring quote written by the

great helen teller

grabbed me the moment i read it do any

of you know what this quote means

for those of you who may have nodded

i’ve got to give you a round of applause

because i’ll be honest i didn’t get this

quote at first at all

but now after going to some of the

hardest times of my life because of this

great pandemic

i’ve taken both the mental and physical

journey and i think i’ve stumbled on

this meaning

hi i’m drew kilaru a typical teenage boy

who has been through

and witnessed quite a few losses

nothing compared to what some of you may

be going through like the loss of a job

or even more devastating

the loss of a family member or a loved

one

but even though my losses may have been

smaller they still taught me a lesson

that i want to share

with you so my journey started when i

read a report from the french university

ipsos

the report states that based on numerous

factors such as health

and living conditions 64

of the world’s population is happy

unfortunately this study was done back

in 2019

and times have definitely changed this

year just look at these numbers that the

cdc

gathered many people are trudging to

2020

grappling with crippling heartbreaking

loss

so many people are so unhappy

but i’m here to suggest that there may

actually be a way to get our happiness

back on track

let’s start with me like many young

students

i felt like the end of spring break was

a portal to a different dimension

school which is at the center of any

students lives

suddenly turned upside down

along the technical challenges of online

school i felt that education had been

deeply impacted

i always enjoyed being challenged but

now that challenge just became another

loss to add to the list

i thought the academic bar had been

lowered and i couldn’t wait for things

to become normal again

when fall came around 8th grade seemed

somewhat more promising

and even a little more challenging but

unfortunately

nothing replaced school except for

school

another way i’ve been impacted involves

basketball

basketball is one of my greatest ways of

working on stress is my bridge to

socializing and it’s also one of my

biggest passions

that is until march of 2020 took that

away

like any teenage kid for the first week

i pouted

complained through fits and even when i

was striking as my parents

well that didn’t last long one early

morning

however i tied up my newer jordans

grabbed my favorite yellow basketball

and then went out to my driveway hoop

and there

i started to play i started a shoot

yeah it wasn’t a team and nobody was

even keeping score

but it was still basketball it was still

my passion

and nobody not even the great pandemic

could rob me of those moments

that some might call hope and i think

that’s key to finding happiness

even in the midst of loss because a loss

is inevitable

but happiness isn’t we have to create

our own happiness and to do so

you need to know what it means for you

for me happiness is how you feel once

you’ve made the game-winning shot

no matter how many defenders try to slow

you down

in fact i probably feel even happier

when i defended trying to hold me back

and yet i’m still able to succeed by

making that shot

someone else was able to find happiness

using his approach was civil engineer

student eliot ryan

during the pandemic he was able to build

an entire roller coaster in his

grandpa’s backyard

just after watching youtube videos the

pandemic gave elliot the time for this

incredible achievement

and i’m willing to bet that it made him

happy

and i’m also willing to bet that each of

you have found at least one more passion

over the last several months

or at least gotten more involved with a

passion that you already had

if you haven’t done this i urge you to

do so whether it’s more time for family

game night

or maybe reconnect with nature through

simple walks we can all grow as people

in spite of this great pandemic

a time of significant loss we can all

learn new things from these

unprecedented times

soon we’ll be welcoming in a new year

and i know many of you will be glad to

see 2020 go well let’s not lose the

valuable lessons we’ve learned

through this challenging year and so i

urge you

all of you to always find those little

moments of success

and hope to get you through any

hardships you may face

and whenever you can i urge you to at

least be happy

stay safe and thank you for listening

you