Hardships are a part of life that everyone must deal with. These hardships can either enable you to succeed or cause you to fail. The outcome of these obstacles all depend on how these situations are handled. In the novel, A Hope in the Unseen written by Ron Suskind, you follow a boy named Cedric through his struggles to success. Throughout the novel Cedric was criticized because of who he was and told he would not be able to compete in the white world. Cedric was able to overcome all these obstacles through determination, tolerance and the ability to ignore peer pressure.
Determination is what kept Cedric on his track to success. In the novel Cedric made himself a goal to get into college. If he did not set himself a goal, then he would not have been motivated to do anything. His motivation to accomplish his goal was what made him so determined. Cedric went to a ghetto high school in Washington DC, where most of the students never graduated. He did not want to live his whole life in the ghettos of Washington DC, so he set himself a goal. His goal was to make it to an Ivey League college. Cedric did everything he could to accomplish his goal, even went to school early to do extra school work. Because of Cedric's hard work and determination he reached his goal. He made it into an Ivy League college, Brown University. He did not necessarily make it because he was smart but because he knew what was important to him. A friend of his, La Tisha, said to him, "You"re a special person, Cedric. It's not like you"re so much smarter than everyone else, necessarily. It's just that you know in your heart that you"re gonna make it and that's the key." (pg 64) Many other students at Cedric's school were going through a lot of the same problems as Cedric. Many, like Cedric, were from broken families struggling to make the rent. Despite those problems he had confidence in himself that made it possible for him to accomplish his goals.
