Gabriel Abbes

January 29th, 2020

Mrs. Ebel
Period 2

The Effect of Adversity Argumentative Essay

Adversity is a responsive difficulty-the way one approaches change, determines future

growth. The human species has been coded to adapt to circumstances; for thousands of years

nature has refined the response into pure survival. The new world no longer needs to hunt-day

in, day out-for subsistence, or fight wars for water; much of our world has become globalized

upon the luxuries of international trade, and its reliances. Although human competitiveness is

not in its common format of natural adversity, our species has responded by transitioning the

impulsive qualities of survival, into the civilized realm. Adversity now comes in many different

ways. What was once a single struggle of ‘man vs. nature’, is now a battle of adversity of

thought, economy, politics, and sports. The ‘prosperous circumstances’ of our world does set

complacency in the absence of adversity; it is of the transitional qualities of our changing forms

of difficulties that upkeep our natural response of survival in all situations. Our world sees this in

the perseverance of symbolic figures- that of Aimee Mullins, Barbara Ehrenreich and one’s own

personal growth. It is crucial that our world continues the realization that adversity ‘elicits talents

lain dormant in prosperous [comfortable] situations.’

Paralympian Aimee Mullins has shown the cruciality of modern day, developmental

adversity. Mrs. Mullins was born with the “disability” of having no legs. Instead of following the

diagnosis of being ‘handicapped’, Aimee Mullins strove further. Out of the realm of ‘disability’

she found herself with an innate capability-through the adversity of her circumstance she delved

into a new world of understanding, and competition. As supported by popular Roman poet

Horace, Mullins qualified the idea that an obstacle-seemingly of any kind-has an “effect of

eliciting talents which in prosperous circumstances would have lain dormant.” She altered her
Gabriel Abbes
January 29th, 2020
Mrs. Ebel
Period 2
negative predisposition into a positive flame; only to be ignited by doubt and inability. As stated

by Mullins, ‘Human will is greater than any predisposed prognosis.’ Will is a respective

response to difficulty, and it is of the motivation against it, that pushes one forward. In this

circumstance, Aimee Mullins is, “A record breaker at the Paralympic Games in 1996…[she] has

built a career as a model, actor and advocate for women, sports and the generation of

prosthetics.” Adversity creates opportunity to route a positive response; talents are found at the

darkest times, and against the toughest disability.

Barbara Ehrenreich also expresses her difficulty in an excerpt, “Serving in Florida.”

Ehrenreich had to give up material “prosperity” and time, for the ‘new world’ form of

survival-finance. “The e-mails and phone messages addressed to my former self come from a

distant race of people with exotic concerns and far too much time on their hands.” As she cites,

her past is now a different person, the difficulty of her adversity has elicited change. Although

her experience as a minimum wage worker at “Jerry’s” fast food has detrimented her current

state, Ehrenreich used her natural response to change, and survive. It is crucial that any form of

trouble is realized as a challenge, one accepted at the sacrifice of other forms of enjoyment, for

the betterment and survival in our current world. Ehrenreich may not wish to be the most

‘talented burger flipper’, but she is using the process of her capabilities to find success in a

difficult atmosphere and situation. Albeit the circumstance, and the negative connotation

towards a minimum wage job, she can find the good in understanding that she is maintaining a

life-rather than giving in.

Adversity can be seen through different lenses. The world is constantly changing, and

the response of our persons is that of a response to a change. Even the most trivial difficulties

of life elicit talents: our body had been coded to react to any type of obstacle, and jump over it.

Each person has a different perspective of difficulty, yet, it is granted that humans equally
Gabriel Abbes
January 29th, 2020
Mrs. Ebel
Period 2
realize adaptivity by using capabilities once unknown during “prosperous circumstances”. In my

case, I have responded to the blood, sweat and tears of running by ‘eliciting my talents’ to earn

four state championships during my four years in high school. It has taken a lot of losses, and

disagreements, to reach an ability, in the face of adversity. Life is transient, and so too is the

hardship we experience; every single form of a problem does catalyze some form of response

lain dormant in complacency.

Positive or negative, for better and for worse, difficulties in life are challenges humans

are genetically built to overcome. As said by the famous poet, Horace, ‘adversity elicits talent’.

Such talent is a simple revelation of a reactive human response. Adversity simply reveals what

each person has had all along. Life and its varied culture brings different difficulty, but the primal

response of each and every one of us it to fight through it; no matter how big or small.