Finally, after days of work, my proposal was finished. I had a concrete plan for creating a Tai Chi club.

The next day, clutching my proposal, I walked into the principal’s office and nervously began to present my ideas to Mr. Furdon. I explained that I had been doing Tai Chi exercises at home and had found myself focusing better and thinking more clearly. As I talked about the potential benefits to the other students, he looked over my proposal, nodding and smiling.

Finally, he told me that while he did not foresee any problems, he needed to look at my proposal more closely and get back to me.

Anxiously, I waited for a final approval. To my surprise, when I was finally called into his office, it was not to hear good news. There had been a budget cut, and the school could not finance any new activities. I was devastated.

For days, the encounter played and replayed itself in my mind, weighing me down. I could think of nothing but the club, the failure, the budget, the…

Refusing to give up, I shook off the gloom. I would make this work.

Over the next few days, I went to several club advisors, seeking their suggestions and searching for a new direction. I realized that the key issue was finding a teacher who would be the club sponsor, since that was a requirement for every club. I thought that if I could find a volunteer teacher, I might solve this problem.

To try this out, I presented my proposal to several teachers and won support from one of them: Ms. DeNoyelles.

When I stepped back into Mr. Furdon’s office, he was surprised to see me. I carefully unfolded my plan and I told him that I had found a volunteer teacher to sponsor the club. He smiled and gave me the final approval.

This turned out to be the first of many obstacles. I still had to find a practice area, get the equipment, and recruit members, but I managed to solve all these issues. The club has now been running for years. During one of our early meetings, one of the members poked me. “Look, Mr. Furdon is watching us!” I looked over and caught his eye. He gave a slight nod and a thumbs-up. We smiled at each other, satisfied.

Much to my surprise, the next year, several new clubs were created. Modeling themselves after the Tai Chi Club, they were able to form without consuming the school’s budget.

These successes encouraged me to form a Chemistry Olympiad team. During the competition, I did well and became a national finalist. However, I consider my work with the Tai Chi Club to be a greater accomplishment. For the first time, I took responsibility for a project and heralded it from idea to completion. By exploring new ideas and strategies every time I hit a roadblock, I was able to turn obstacles into opportunities; this has made all the difference. The leadership and social skills that I learned throughout this time are valuable assets that I will carry with me throughout my life.

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