Ever watched Rudy? It’s a film about a young man’s dream to play football at Notre Dame. Rudy’s family, his dad and his brothers love football. They watch it all the time. Rudy knows all about the ND coaches, and culture. He has immersed himself in it, so it is not unusual for him to dream of playing football for the Fighting Irish. What is extra ordinary is that he actually does. Rudy had to overcome a lot of challenges to play football at Notre Dame. From the time he was a boy his brothers and dad told him that he was too small to play football at Notre Dame. Then in school teachers and religious leaders also tried to discourage him. Yet against all odds, he went on to play football at Notre Dame. It didn’t all happen at once. Rudy had to take steps towards his goal. Here’s a link to an article about Rudy’s overcoming. If you are a foreigner here in Hong Kong you can’t change your birth place or upbringing to become fluent in Cantonese, but you might still be able to learn it well enough to do what you need to do here in Hong Kong.
How Bad Do You Want it?
Maybe you can relate to Rudy. Everyone told him he would never reach his dream. Is everyone telling you that Cantonese is too difficult and that you can’t or shouldn’t try to learn it. After all they say Hong Kong people speak English right? Are you content to just accept this and move on? If not Rudy’s story might serve as an inspiration for you. I know that it does for me. There are a number of well-meaning people in our lives who have tried to discourage us from learning Cantonese. When they say that it is hard, they aren’t lying and while they might not say it, the truth is that only small percentage of the foreigners studying ever get past a basic level of the language. So putting yourself out there to try isn’t easy. It takes courage
Should You Quit While You Are Ahead?
Neither college level football nor Cantonese is for everyone. Those who simply give up before they start, might be making the wiser decision. At least, they are saving themselves a lot of time. That decision wasn’t a viable option for me as a married a Hong Kong girl and I just couldn’t imagine wasting all the times that we were together with her parents and friends not understanding what was going on. Of course, commitment to a goal like football, or Cantonese doesn’t guarantee that you will be successful in reaching it. At the same time, a commitment is a prerequisite. Without it we don’t have a chance. Here’s an article – Stay Focused When Your Best Isn’t Good Enough. Rudy committed himself to his goal and thus gained a chance at being successful. He didn’t give up.
Rethinking Your Goal
I think Rudy’s goal probably did changed over time though. Originally, he probably envisioned himself out there with the other players playing football with hundreds of fans cheering him on. In the movie, there is a conversation that he has with his coach that reflects his change of heart. He acknowledges to his coach that he is smaller than the other guys and not suited for competition at the pro level. Rudy accepted this characteristics about himself that he couldn’t change. He didn’t give up on football or on Notre Dame, but he did to some extent come to grips with the fact that he might never play on game days. We also need to be honest with ourselves. We need to come to grips with the fact that we never may make it into some social or some employment circles.
Play to Your Strengths
Rudy’s determination and physical strength got him a long ways, but they couldn’t compensate for his being small. As language learners our determination, time and strategies for studying are all important and they will also get us a long ways, but they probably also won’t be able to compensate for that fact that we didn’t grow up speaking Cantonese. There will likely always be stuff that we just don’t get. We will likely never become native in our language ability. We have to accept this reality as it is and not beat ourselves up over it. If we are fortunate, as Rudy was. Others around us will embrace us for who we are. They will be accepting of where we are on lives journey. At times, they will even partner with us as they did with Rudy. The coach wasn’t going to let Rudy play on game day. But Rudy’s friends saw their teammates heart and they had compassion on him. They one by one asked the couch to let Rudy play. The couch was still reluctant, but eventually he gave in. In the end life isn’t about football games it’s about relationships and entering into other people’s lives.
You Can’t Make it On Your Own
Yes, I know rugged individualism sounds nice and we are led to believe that the self made man or woman is where it’s at. But is that true? The early settlers to the United States really make it on their own or for that matter does anyone really make it on their own. I think the answer is no. We need each other. Rudy arrived early at Notre Dame and asked to speak with someone about admissions. The man he asked sent him to a priest. Hahaha, you might be asking yourself what does a priest have to do with admissions to Notre Dame. The answer is nothing. Well, nothing directly. The priest he saw was moved by Rudy’s story so he gave him a chance to go to Holy Cross school. Rudy got his grades up and later applied to ND. The first time he applied, he failed. While he was going to school at Holy Cross he found a job working on the grounds of the ND football field, a place to live for free and he found a friend who helped him with his studies. A lot of what seemed impossibilities became possible. Rudy didn’t make it happen on his own. Others helped him.
Be Thankful and Take Steps
If you look back on your life, I am sure you will find that others have help you as well. Be thankful. It takes courage, but it is not impossible. Just put one foot in front of the other and keep walking towards your dream and learn from Rudy’s example.
