Neema Moin Afshar

Ms. Vahle and Ms. Fjetland

AP Language and Composition
22 September 2013
Adversity
Throughout history we as a society love to hear about people overcoming adversities, as
we see them to be changed people with a greater understanding of life. The Roman poet Horace
states that Adversity has the effect of eliciting talents which in prosperous circumstances would
have lain dormant; he asserts that adversity can bring about ones true characteristics. He claims
the effects of adversity in order to show how it molds a person into a stronger individual.
Adversity requires one to respond in order to overcome its effects. Indeed, adversity, from
financial struggle for example, allows people to develop perseverance and self-disipline because
these traits are adopted so one can latter on overcome future adversities.
The financial adversity which I had to face at a young age had a large impact on the type
of person I am today. When I was around eight or nine years old my father went through a
sudden rough patch in his business as he had to claim bankruptcy. Before that period my family
was decently wealthy and for me that meant I was raised a bit spoiled and that I would be able to
get anything I wanted whenever I pointed at it, but all of a sudden for a child of my age who
would get whatever he wanted that from now on he would not be able to do that came as a real
shocker. For a long time I had struggle coping to this situation, but I believe it was around the
age of eleven or twelve that it finally came to me and I was able to appreciate the opportunity of
living in that situation. From this experience I was able to become less of a spoiled child who

could get whatever he wanted to becoming a much more understanding person, I had the chance
to really learn what life is all about. Also this sudden financial crisis for my family meant that we
had to move to a new place, Tehran Iran, which was another adversity I believe helped build my
character into the person I am today.
After my father had to declare bankruptcy, my family declared to move back to Iran
which for me became a very hard struggle as it meant learning an entirely new language to the
skill set of other twelve year old students. The struggle of learning Farsi in a very short time
frame and going through five grades of Farsi in only three months helped me achieve a new
understanding of my abilities. Before moving to Iran I wasnt the most studious of people, I
would also choose sports or hanging out with my friends over studying, but the fact that I was
able to learn a new language entirely from scratch and triumph over the adversity- which was the
language barrier- helped me realize my potential when it came to studying and the joy of
accomplishing something of that nature. I believe that if it wasnt for my family deciding to
move to Iran, than I would not be the studious person I am today. Another adversity that our
movement to Iran brought about for me and I believe might have rounded up my character in
which I am today is the sickness I had to witness, which follows me still.
After the first year in which we moved to Iran, a sudden accident occurred for me in
which my uncle who was once a very healthy man and a man who was once very strong became
very ill due to the fact that he did not take care of his body as he should have. Watching my
uncle go through such a painful disease as he was very unfortunate to get both throat cancer and
lung failure through smoking and also get atherosclerosis through his unhealthy diet. I believe
that having to witness such a horrific illness and the fact that it was occurring to someone I knew
and loved dearly really helped influence the type of person I would become. After witnessing my

uncle go through such an illness I decided to never touch anything such as a cigarette and I also
decided to never eat anything that I cannot grow or make myself, and also I chose not to eat
anything that I cannot pronounce.
Although some might say that a persons character is predefined I believe in what Horace
states and that ones character is sculpted by their environment and also the experiences they
had. Also from the adversities in which I encountered and had to overcome, I was also able to
experience that first hand, and thus agree with Horaces statement.