Pushing Limits and Climbing Mountains by Jordan

Pushing Limits and Climbing Mountains by Jordan - December 2018 Scholarship Essay

To be considered for the Nobel Prize, one must be passionate and intelligent, creative and active, hard-working and well-meaning, impactful and successful ⸺ clearly risen above the rest. But not even all of these qualities are enough to receive the award. To win the Nobel Prize is to go even above the top of the top: it is to hold not only these qualities, but also to be powerfully daring and to be strong in handling personal adversity. Without these last two, a person can still have impactful accomplishments, but their accomplishments would be lacking in the fullness and passion that comes from undertaking risks and overcoming struggles.

The recipient of the Nobel Prize must have the courage to be daring in their field. Without taking risks and pushing the boundaries of the work that has already been done, they can’t hope to accomplish anything revolutionary or profoundly meaningful. If a candidate does not reach past the limits already in place, they should not be a winner of the Prize. Taking risks is to demonstrate passion, and risks will lead to greater understandings and perspectives. An activist who isn’t daring, choosing instead to “play it safe” and resist being too vocal about their beliefs does not have the passion required to win the Peace Prize. A physicist who is scared to refute widely accepted theories, even with sufficient evidence, will never expand the boundaries of their field and add to the knowledge of the universe.

The winner, too, must have demonstrated the ability to overcome personal adversity. Making a positive impact is easy when there is no pushback, and every well-meaning person could do it. But when problems arise, the true winners are the ones who continue despite the difficulties. Malala Yousafzai was the perfect candidate in this regard: she continued to fight for what she believed in, despite terrorism, threats, even being shot and forced to flee her home country. It would have been easy to trade her activism for safety, but she didn’t. The adversity she faced did not stop her from doing what she knew was right. This is the true spirit of a Nobel Prize winner. By overcoming the fear hurled at her, Malala demonstrated her passion for women’s education. Every Nobel Prize winner in their respective fields should be showing the same dedication and passion that Malala did, and when they can continue to work towards their goals, despite problems, they demonstrate their dedication to their projects.

Nobel prize candidates are incredible people ⸺ they must be. But to be declared the winner of the award, even an incredible person who does incredible work won’t make the cut. It’s a prestigious award, and even some of the best, most influential people will never win. It’s because the winners are the ones who take their work a step further. They’ve taken risks that no one else would dare. They’ve overcome struggles that would have silenced the rest. These are the people that should win the award: the ones that persevere, pushing limits and climbing mountains.