I really enjoyed watching The Oscars this year! I am a huge fan of award shows and I feel like The Oscars is one that is usually done really well. This year the Oscars, and many other award shows, talked about social and political issues in America. While some may get annoyed with the politically charged stances that these actors, actresses, and directors are taking I really appreciate and support them using the platform they have been given to speak out about what is important to them.

Many of the speeches were moving. Frances McDormand’s speech was absolutely phenomenal. I hung on every word she said. However, the speech that really stuck with me was Jordan Peele’s and it stuck with me because of one specific thing he said.

For those of you who don’t know, Jordan Peele won an Oscar for Best Original Screenplay for the movie “Get Out.” Winning this award made him the first black screenwriter to win an award in this category.

He made history with this award!

When he got to the stage one of the first things he said in his acceptance speech was that he stopped writing the screenplay for “Get Out” about twenty times.

This has stuck with me since the Oscars and will probably stick with me for a long time. He could have completely given up after any one of the times he stopped writing and if he gave up he wouldn’t have made history at the 2018 Oscars.

I will never win an Oscar (okay maybe I shouldn’t say never because Kobe Bryant also won an Oscar this year), but I can’t help but think about all the things I’ve given up on in my life. All of the things I tried and wasn’t very good so I stopped instead of just trying to improve.

More often than not we aren’t the best at something the first time we try. The first time you put pen to paper to write a poem it may end up being the worst piece of poetry you’ve ever read. The first time you pick up a new instrument it won’t sound like it does when your favorite musician plays. Even your first day at a new job will probably have some ups and downs. We’re an imperfect species and sometimes we put too much pressure on ourselves to be perfect the first time.

Jordan Peele’s Oscar’s speech put an emphasis on the struggle one goes through to achieve greatness. True success and greatest is earned and it’s rarely easy to achieve.

I’ll hear Jordan Peele’s words in the back of my mind for the rest of my life as I push through the hard times, the failures, and the roadblocks towards my own success and greatness.