Name: Ashleigh Edwards
Category: Undergraduate
Dr. Parker’s Quote: Inspirational Advice for Daily Living
It is always too soon to quit.
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Essay:
It is rare to find a person that has not or will not go through some difficult period in his or her life. It is in these times that encouragement and a positive attitude are most needed. Dr. Parker recognized the importance of uplifting words and amassed a large collection of advice for both the good and bad times throughout his life. When I read Dr. Parker’s quote, “It is always too soon to quit,” I immediately remembered an event that triggered the feeling that it was time to finally give up. It was just after my freshman year of high school when we found out that our Color Guard (interpretive dance with equipment manipulation) instructor was fired. Throughout the year and the previous years at the middle school I had grown attached to our instructor and the other members. We had an informal meeting amongst ourselves and decided that even though we thought that no one could be as amazing as our previous instructor, we would give the replacements a chance before we quit. Some in the group were already ready to quit, but with the support of the other team members we collectively decided that it was “too soon to quit”. We met the new instructors the following year. It was different—very different. The change of technique, style, and personality would have been enough to test us but on top of all of that, the new instructors spoke badly of our old instructor. We did not enjoy practice much, we did not like the choreography, and we were not scoring very well at competitions. Despite these problems it was still “too soon to quit”. After entering into a new season some members decided that it was time to quit, but they regret that decision to this day. The whole ensemble (less the ones that left) was faced with the most discouraging news mid-season: our new instructors had been fired for undisclosed reasons and if we wanted to continue to compete, we would have to completely redesign the routine. At that point in the season most—if not all of the other teams—had already completed their routines and restarting seemed insane, unimaginable, and impossible. No one would have blamed us for quitting. We were without an instructor and without a routine but we still felt that it was “too soon to quit”, we knew that we could work through it. One teacher was especially supportive, I imagine that he and Dr. Parker share that trait, and even though he did not know how to do Color Guard, he was there for us and he believed in us. The old routine was completely thrown away and we coached ourselves through a new one that represented all that we had gone through in the season. Despite the odds against us, we made it to World Championships. Quitting would have been easier mentally, physically, and emotionally, but the feeling when we finally persevered was much more powerful than any of the negative times we went through. The struggle, challenges, and effort made the success even better. I learned that no matter what happens, “It is always too soon to quit,” something good can always come out of a bad situation if one is patient, works hard, and simply believes.
