Perseverance, Georgia, and the many paths to winning

Attribution 2.0 Generic (CC BY 2.0) courtesy of The United States Army Band

If you’ve been a listener or reader of RealAgriculture for any length of time, you know that I am a massive fan of college football.

Monday’s championship game lived up to all expectations. University of Georgia was my pick to win (you can check on Twitter!), so I feel good about that pick because they won.

Now, I know this is an agriculture website, but I want to talk about Stetson Bennett, quarterback for Georgia, because his is a story of inspiration. And it’s a story that many of you, I think, can identify with in some form or fashion.

Here’s a kid that grows up in Georgia, loves Georgia football. He’s a preferred walk on, he’s not on scholarship, and it doesn’t work out. He transfers to a junior college, then ends up transferring back to Georgia, has a starting job last year, and loses it. Then this year, he has played phenomenally well. This is a kid that was a preferred walk on, this doesn’t happen! This is unbelievable. Walk-ons can eventually get a scholarship, yes, but this is Georgia. This is one of the elite football programs in the country. They’ve got to get some of the best four and five star quarterback recruits, desperate to go to a place like Georgia.

So, this young athlete, who wasn’t supposed to reach this level, then leads Georgia to defeat Alabama after a 40-year championship drought. It’s a great story of perseverance and dedication and commitment to something that you want so bad, you will persevere. And you know there was times last night where he looked absolutely shaky, nervous, terrible, not up to the moment, and he pulled through.

The story of Stetson Bennett once again showcases that if you want something, and you have a dream, and you have something that you aspire to, in sports, or in, particular to this audience here at RealAgriculture, you have goals in terms of what your farm or what you want your farm or your ranch to look like, or what are you going to do in your career, it just once again demonstrates that there isn’t just one path to that moment.

And a lot of times in sports, and for those of you that are listening that have kids in youth sports, you can identify with this, where everybody talks about, you know, the path. Where do we got to play? What do you have to do? What team do you have to make? It’s the same thing with those of us that are working in industry and you think about, okay, if you want to get to this point, you got to go to this college, you have to take this program. There’s a set path to success, right? If you want to be successful on your farm, you have to do these things things. These are the steps.

The reality is, however, that there is no set path, not at all. Sometimes people have to take a path of adversity. We’re not all a 4.0 GPA or a five-star college recruit. Sometimes the path of adversity and path of perseverance, when you get to the mountaintop, you get to that championship, you get to have a successful farm and ranch because you put in the time and the work and the commitment and you knew what you wanted. Right? Then it becomes extra special, extra special.

Personally, I love when somebody finds a path to success that was non-traditional, full of adversity, and somebody really, really pushed through. I think those are always very cool stories that I think many of you can identify with that when it comes to your own story and your own path to success.

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Categories: Farm Management / Opinion