“A positive attitude makes a big difference.”

Write about a time when you faced a challenging task and how you overcame it.

Written by: Ellie Koh (Sec 1-2, 2023)

What is a positive attitude? To me, it is the supreme attitude to have when facing a challenging task. A positive attitude makes you shine as brightly as the sun even at your lowest point. Challenges are unavoidable; life is always flooded with them. Whenever I think of a positive attitude and challenges, this experience hits me like a brick.

I had always been a perfectionist. Since I was young, if I thought a task was impossible to do, I would cry my eyes out. This negative attitude always haunted me, constantly being chased down by my negative attitude in any challenging situation, as if I were playing a game of hide and seek with it.

One day, as I was concentrating in class, writing notes on my worksheet, my teacher, Mrs. Tan, told us that we were going to do a presentation about books as our examination. Suddenly, beads of sweat trickled down my forehead as I heard those words. The presentation was my worst nightmare! It was one of the most challenging tasks I had ever been assigned. As my mind drowned itself in negative voices, saying that I would not do well, I started to think that this task was impossible to complete. As my mind scrambled for excuses to skip this horrific nightmare that was my presentation, that day loomed closer.

As I stood in front of the class on my presentation day, tears swelled up in my eyes as my mind started to get bombarded with gloomy thoughts telling me that I had done badly. I tried calming myself down by imagining that there was nobody in the class, and it helped significantly. I read the PowerPoint slides I had created at the last minute with sweat trickling down my forehead. I tried calming myself by doing breathing exercises. Suddenly, I recalled what my father had always told me, “A positive attitude makes a big difference.” All of a sudden, all my negative thoughts and the horrible attitude that had always haunted me were washed away with a simple sentence. The quote repeated in my mind as I had a new optimistic feeling about the challenging presentation. I told myself that I was doing great and believed in myself. I continued my presentation.

At the end of my challenging presentation, friends hugged me from all sides, encouraging me and telling me that I had done well. My smile was tired but happy. At the end of class, Mrs. Tan approached me and handed me my grades on the presentation. I had aced and done better than I expected! I felt on top of the world!

Mrs. Tan smiled and told me, “At first, you had a negative attitude, and you were doing quite badly. When I saw that you started to encourage yourself and seemed more relaxed, I could tell that you had changed your mindset to a positive attitude. You started to become more confident and did the best in the class!”

My smile that day was wider than it had ever been; I was over the moon! Not because I had done well on my presentation, but because I had overcome a challenging task with a positive attitude. Truly, a positive attitude makes a big difference. Every time I face a challenging task, I recall this unforgettable experience.