Byes 1

Jordan Byes

Mrs. Cox

English 9 H

22 March 2017
The Power of Ambition
Albert Einstein, Henry Ford, Ellen Degeneres, and somehow even Kim Kardashian all

have a really big thing in common, ambition. These people are all different from one another and

are known for different achievements, but in the end, each and every one of them have succeeded

in their own way. Their paths to success all have to do with their determination and will of

ambition. Now, what exactly is ambition? Ambition is a strong desire to do or to achieve

something, typically requiring determination and hard work. That does not

necessarily mean that you have to be a celebrity or invent one of the top selling

cars to have ambition. Myself, you, your grandma, our teacher, or even your dog

have ambition. Once again there are several types of ambition so that does not

mean you and your dog have the same goals you would like to accomplish. Your

ambition may be to receive good grades in school while your dogs ambition is to

bury their bone before the sun goes down. It is those everyday things that we may

not even know we have ambition for. For instance, some daily activities that you

may not know you use ambition for is doing your homework, completing all your

chores, or completing a workout, and so much more. Without ambition, our planet

would not be the way it is today. The resources we have today would be non-

existent if there weren't people out there with a drive of ambition. Resources such

as laptops, phones, refrigerators, or blenders are some simple examples. If you

have not noticed, all the people I stated, have been or are currently alive now, but

you don't need a pulse to have ambition. By that i mean fictional characters are also

known to have ambition. For instance, in the novel, A Separate Piece, by John

Knowles, Finny loses his athletic abilities after falling from a tree. Devastated by the
 Byes 1

Jordan Byes

Mrs. Cox

English 9 H

22 March 2017
lack of athleticism, he was motivated to teach Gene to be athletic like he once was.

Finny decided to train Gene for the 1944 Olympics. This showed that even though

Finny was unable to do these activities himself, he had the ambition to not give up

on his new goal of getting Gene to the olympics. On another note, ambition is not

always used for positive, unfortunately. People will use their determination to

achieve something that will not benefit themselves or others in a positive manner.

For instance, in the play, Macbeth, by William Shakespeare, the character Lady

Macbeth was determined to become royalty, and was willing to do anything to get

that title. She was so ambitious that she was willing to take the life of Duncan

without any hesitation. This piece of literature was a great example of showing how

ambition could be used for negative achievements instead of for positive ones.

Unfortunately, we see this type of ambition more and more these days, especially

when it comes to politics and businesses. There have been fake organizations and

foundations that trick people into giving proceeds to them and using the money for

their own personal use. Foundations such as Coalition Breast Cancer was recently

sued for not using the money for the cause. The founders of the organization were

using others generosity for their profit. I believe that if everyone uses ambition for

the positive or contributes to the community the world can be a better place for

every citizen in every country. We do not have to donate thousands to a foundations

or adopt every stranded dog we see on the street. Small contributions such as

spending a day feeding the homeless or picking up garbage make a big difference.

We all have ambition, it just depends on how we use it that determines who we are

as people and how we can change the world. Be the person who will be ambitious
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Jordan Byes

Mrs. Cox

English 9 H

22 March 2017
and achieve your goals. It does not matter if you are climbing Everest or trying to

get straight As for an entire school year, be determined, be ambitious.

Works Cited
 Byes 1

Jordan Byes

Mrs. Cox

English 9 H

22 March 2017
Knowles, John. Separate Peace. Place of Publication Not Identified, Simon & Schuster

Ltd, 2016.

Shakespeare, William. The Tragedy of Macbeth. The Language of Literature.

McDougal

Littell, Evanston, IL. 2002. Pp 328-419

Liepmann, Erica. "New York Sues Coalition Against Breast Cancer, Claiming Funds

Not Spent On

Cause." The Huffington Post. TheHuffingtonPost.com, 29 June 2011. Web. 26

Mar. 2017.