Perseverance Builds Character

The movie , Mattias Caro, our guest blogger has chosen today is Rudy. This was the first movie the Notre Dame administration allowed to be shot on campus since Knute Rockne, All American in 1940. Rudy had a dream: play College football for the greatest team in the world, Notre Dame. But the last thing Rudy appeared to be was a football player. He was five-foot nothing, a hundred and nothing, a literal tackling dummy of a boy.

Friends and family had zero faith in Rudy’s dream. He didn’t have the grades to make it into Notre Dame and he certainly didn’t have the athletic ability to make it onto her team. But Rudy never gave up on his dream. He trained alone. He worked long hours. He saved up for school. He took classes at a junior college. In short, Rudy knew his dream meant taking small steps to add up to success.

When he finally made it to Notre Dame, he practiced harder than any other player. While week after week his name never made the game list, Rudy kept at it. Not until the last game, did Rudy make it onto the field, with the fans and teammates cheering his name.

Though a bit dramatized, the story of Rudy is one of pure perseverance. And along the way, perseverance builds character as the relentless journey towards the goal yields its own fruits: for Rudy it was an education, respect from his teammates, friends and family, and confidence in himself.

Rudy is a perennial reminder of the need to fight, fight, fight in order to never give up on our goals.