“Nothing in this world can take the place of persistence. Talent will not; nothing is more common than unsuccessful men with talent. Genius will not; unrewarded genius is almost a proverb. Education will not; the world is full of educated derelicts. Persistence and determination alone are omnipotent. The slogan Press On! has solved and always will solve the problems of the human race.”― Calvin Coolidge

Several weeks ago, the story 'Welcome to the Jungle' generated the most unsolicited email responses of any of the forty-four Wednesday Weblogs to date.

That surprised me a little bit because, while I knew what we were doing when we were doing it, I didn't realize that it would inspire so many, so many years later.

To everyone who read it: thank you. To everyone who sent me a message, double thank you. To both groups: I am very appreciative that you take the time to read and even more appreciative of those of you who write to me with your thoughts, and of course, to point out the typos.

This week's story is another 'Dad' story. For everyone out there feeling sorry for themselves.

It is the story of a 16 year old kid who was knocked on his back, literally and figuratively, and got off the mat through hard work, and of course, persistence. It is the story about how Algebra II, almost knocked him out, and how he fought back to win and learned a valuable lesson about...persistence.

If you remember, Algebra II is the subject that was invented by someone who hated high school students, to confuse them and complicate their lives. If you are a parent, you get to go through it again when your child goes through high school.

There are so many formulas. They run together and when you think you have the right answer, you don’t, and when you get the right answer you are not sure how you got it. (Kind of a metaphor for life, but that is a theme for another day).

At the start of my son’s junior year in high school, he unavoidably missed the first six weeks of class because he had major surgery on his spine. Sure they sent homework to the house, but that can be hard to do after major surgery.

When Joe finally started school, with a lot of time and hard work, it was fairly easy to pick up and catch up with Social Studies, Science, English, and other subjects.

Algebra II was another story entirely. You just can’t miss the first six weeks of Algebra II and survive, but we had to figure out a way. We didn’t figure much out in the first quarter, and he received an “F”, but it might as well have been an “H” for ‘hopeless.'

I was the incompetent homework helper, and we were so lost, so far behind, so confused by Algebra II that we were this close to giving up. We eventually decided to start an intensive search for a tutor. We advertised, we asked for referrals, we tried everything, but no one showed up to rescue us. Eventually, we did find a tutor: me.

Not anyone’s first choice, believe me. I was not really qualified for the job. Not an ideal solution. But we were accountable, and we really had no choice. So, we put together a plan to outwork Algebra II by doing three hours of homework PER NIGHT.

We figured, when totally lost and when in doubt, try hard work.

He did all the assigned homework, and every problem he could find in the earlier chapters. He went online and took practice tests at some website. He emailed another web site with our questions and struggles. He did this every night, during the second marking period, including Saturday and Sunday; although occasionally he took a night off, sort of, to go to a basketball game.

Even that occasional ‘night off’ was a little different. At the time, we had front row season tickets for a minor league Cincinnati basketball team, and believe it or not, he brought the Algebra II book to games. During warm-ups, or if play was boring, or during timeouts, sitting in our floor seats, he worked on Algebra II.

The ushers used to look at us like we were crazy. Who brings textbooks to basketball games?

Joe was a persistence machine that wasn’t going to be stopped. We didn’t know when he got that first quarter “F” that he would earn a fourth quarter “A,” but we did know that whatever the grade was going to be, it would be a grade that reflected he’d done his best. He walked away with the hardest earned ‘A’ in quite possibly the history of Algebra II, but there was another reward for the persistence.

Prior to that year, and Algebra II, my son hadn’t expressed much interest in going to college, although he had decent grades and was in the college prep track, but not that inclined. As a result of what he learned about persistence, hard work, study habits and applying himself in Algebra II, by the time he graduated from high school, he did so with the State of Ohio giving him a scholarship to the Raymond Walters Campus of the University of Cincinnati. He went from hopelessly behind, to college graduate because of his persistence.

So even if you are hopelessly behind as you read this today, and feeling a little bit sorry for yourself, realize that what you are doing is NOT Algebra II, you are likely well-trained to do your job, there are no mysterious formulas to memorize, that you have a solid support system in place and you are not 16 years old with a first quarter “F” to deal with.

Considering those facts, if applicable, it is probably time to stop feeling sorry for yourself, even though you can justify it, and get on with solving those problems you face.

If you want to get an “A” when it really counts, if you want to inspire others to help you, you need to get moving. Nothing in the world can take the place of Persistence. Talent will not; nothing is more common than unsuccessful men with talent. Genius will not; unrewarded genius is almost a proverb. Education will not; the world is full of educated derelicts. Persistence and determination alone are omnipotent. The slogan 'Press On' has solved and always will solve the problems of the human race.” (And Algebra II problems as well)

So, press on, and in case you forgot, the formula for a horizontal ellipse is still:

(x-h)²/a² + (y-k)²/b² = 1

The only known photo of the pickle eating contest at Loretta's Last Call.

Yes, I ate all of them and came in second.

My son made me do it.

No, I didn't get sick, but I didn't eat for quite a while, nor did I have another pickle for several months.

If you look close, you can tell by the gleam in my eye that I am confident, but as always: thin line between bravery and stupidity.

If you are reading this on a social media platform, click below and you'll automatically receive a 'different' story every week on Wednesday.

Sign Up for the Wednesday Weblog