Bam! My knees hit the ground, and I was in a world of pain. It was my 7th grade year running in a cross country meet for the first time. I was out of breath and on the verge of quitting because of the struggle that I was experiencing. The voice of Ms. Bulleit, my coach, ran through my ear saying “one step at a time.” Blood was on my knees from the hill’s rocky surface. I stood up ignoring my pain and continued the long, arduous run. Struggle periods in one’s lifetime leads to accomplishment and growth, overcoming obstacles like mine can be seen in coming of age short stories. “The Man Who Was Almost a Man” by Richard Wright, Dave overcomes the obstacle of obtaining a gun, “Raymond’s Run” by Toni Cade Bambara, Hazel overcomes the May Day race, and in the movie Stand by Me directed by Rob Reiner, Gordie supersedes the mindset that he can not be a great writer.
The protagonist of “The Man Who Was Almost a Man” named Dave faces the obstacle of buying a gun, even though his parents are against the idea. Joe’s parents time and time …show more content…
Finish the cross country race was a major obstacle for me during my 11th grade year. Dave proving himself to be a man by obtaining a gun was trivial obstacle for him. Hazel winning the May Day Race prove to be a challenge, but the help of her brother she overcame. Gordie’s mindset held him back from becoming a writer. What all these stories have in common is that there is always a struggle period before accomplishing their major goals. There is this “pressure for change” from multiple sources, including parents, friendships, and the characters’ standard beliefs (Frank). For anyone to get good at anything there needs to be a period of learning that can be gamble on the static mindset. Learning can be obtained through an accumulation of mistakes and finally reaching a breakthrough that allows success to take place and a person to come of