Jacob Nef

Mrs. Scharf

AP Lang

7 December 2018

Adversity Essay

Hardships. Pain. Suffering. They are the things most of humanity fears and despises

most, yet they are crucial in the growth of character. The famous roman poet Horace claims that

adversity can bring undiscovered talents into fruition. This is true; challenges are necessary for

people to develop, but only to a certain point. If the adversity becomes too great, it can become

too difficult to bear and have lasting negative effects for some.

The trials people face every day can be miserable and fatiguing, but they build up either

physical or emotional strength and allow change to occur within. I played football freshman year.

I was weak and inexperienced, and then summer training started. First was the weight room,

where I pushed myself to keep fighting, even when my muscles were so tired I could collapse.

Then came the drills and sprints. We ran, for what seemed like hours, with too few breaks in

between. The moment practice was over, I would fall to the ground near my bike on the turf and

lay there, not able to move. The next day, and for weeks, I was sore. That was painful and it felt

awful, like most hardships. Others might argue that the suffering isn’t worth it, or that it won’t

ever pay off, but I began to get stronger. Muscles built up to endure more strain over time, and

eventually a normal practice would rarely leave me sore afterwards. I changed under the pressure

and was forged into something more, something greater than I was before. People are like metal

bars. Under the right circumstances, with heat and with force, they can be molded and shaped
into something new and better. Through adversity and struggles, people ​will ​grow and develop as

long as they keep facing it and don’t give up.

However, the metal bars that represent people can also snap and break. They can become

brittle if too much heat is applied, or if bent in the wrong way. The difficulties one faces

throughout life can become too much to bear, and at that point, adversity begins to do more

damage than help. Some may contradict; claiming that difficulties will always help people to

grow. There are countless tragic stories in the world of people taking their own lives. This can

happen when people feel there are too many challenges, too many hardships than they can

handle. This is when the struggles stop developing hidden talents or character. They start

destroying it instead. Depression and anxiety is an emotional affliction that attacks many people,

and it is one of the most common mental disorders. Whether it's caused by bullying, peer

pressure, mistakes, or stress, the trauma can be devastating. Some might be able to take on the

challenge and come out improved, but there are those that can’t bear it anymore. Once the

struggle becomes too difficult for someone to stand, that is when they need to find a way to get

help. Challenges to our lives can become harmful when there are too many or they are too

serious.

While Horace is accurate in his assertion on hardships, he's not completely correct.

Suffering is a critical element in growing as a person and becoming more. Nevertheless,

afflictions can stop developing us and begin to do too much harm in some cases. Adversity is a

key used to unlock our full potential, but we must understand that it can go too far. If hardships

could be measured to reach the perfect amount for each individual, Horace would be right, but in

reality, some burdens ​can​ be too heavy for people to bear.