The Trojan

Sports and in particular college football, with the pageantry and tradition everyone has grown accustomed to, often serve as a reminder of a time long ago, the time of gladiators. However, the beauty of college football is that it also relates to the modern struggles of everyday life. The ideals that allow an athlete to excel in competition, to meet challenges head-on, and to be the very best, are alive in all of us. They center around the virtue of achieving success the right way, and doing it the right way is the most important part. Success without adversity is not success at all. And so, we uncover a key to football excellence which just so happens to be a key to living life: adversity must be overcome.

There is a team that has drawn many admirers due to that very ability, the ability to overcome adversity. In fact, the team was so named many decades ago because of that ability. The team represents a family and an institution centered around a university that I, personally, was drawn to for my undergraduate education. This team is represented by a figure himself defined by five qualities: faithful, scholarly, skillful, courageous, and ambitious. He is The Trojan. He represents the Men of Troy, who wear the colors and play each week for the University of Southern California. It may seem odd that I choose this week to write about this team but, in my mind, it is entirely appropriate.

Faithful. Everything begins with faith, and that starts with faith in yourself. You wouldn't be where you are today if you didn't believe in your ability and way of doing things. No matter where you intend to go, you can't get there without faith in others. USC's Trojan Family is like any other, and we each need to trust some member in our family as a mentor. The mentor then needs to trust us with the freedom to put wisdom into action. If you can't make it alone, you can only make it by trusting others. By nature, trust has no guarantee, and that's why it's called being faithful.

Scholarly. If you have faith in yourself and others, you have a good foundation for success in the face of adversity, whenever it may come. The next step is effectively channeling that faith into your way of life. This is done through scholarly work. Being a scholar is not defined by studying for class, watching game film, or time on the practice field. It's how you do those things. It's not just about repetition. It's about practicing excellence, repeatedly doing the right thing the right way. Scholarly work is defined by the habit of excellence.

Skillful. In order to be in a position to use your talents successfully, you need faith and the scholarly habit of excellence. A good teacher identifies your talents and shows you methods to grow those talents to their fullest. You must trust that, and repeatedly practice those methods the right way, through any adversity. Two roads open up when you are skillful. One road is easy because it blends in and doesn't lead anywhere, it requires no effort and there is no cost. The other road is considerably more difficult because it leads everywhere, and only you can ultimately know if you're headed in the right direction. The costs are significant and it takes every ounce of effort to make actual skills match their potential.

Courageous. If you have faith, if you are scholarly, and if you put the proper effort into your skills, then courage matters. When you think about competition, in some way there's always someone out there whose situation is better than yours and someone whose situation is worse. Heart is what separates you. Heart is defined by being positive in the face of adversity, finding the good in every single situation no matter how terrible, and by never giving up. In the end, it's not about technicalities or quick fixes. Whether it's another player, an injury, or a problem in your everyday life, it's about lining up across from your opponent and taking him on, man versus man. Courage is in the act, not the result.

Ambitious. You cannot have the ambition to achieve a successful result without the courage to put your faith, your scholarship, and your skills into action. Ambition is about rising above, and these things give you the proper foundation with which to do that. Being ambitious requires you to take all of these things and do them to the best of your ability. It's not the only way to win, but it's the only way to be successful. It's the only way to do things better than they've ever been done. This is the final key to adversity. Overcoming adversity is not always about besting the thing that threatens you. It's about knowing in your heart that you did everything -- you had faith, you practiced, you nurtured your skills, you had heart -- everything you possibly could to fight, and keep fighting, adversity itself.

It's ironic that a team's best chance to win is by shifting the focus from "win at all costs" to "win the right way." The team that displays the five qualities of The Trojan in a loss is more successful than the team that wins without them. And yet, in reality, the five qualities give the team its best chance to win! This is also true in our everyday lives. Not every hardship or negative situation will go away, and the success is not in making them go away. The success is in how we respond to them. Will I despair and be pessimistic because things are just too hard for me? Or, will I be positive and find the good and never give up despite the odds? Adversity comes down to the concept of "Fight On." It's a concept I truly believe in, and one that began with past USC Trojans fighting on regardless of the score. It has continued to be represented by Trojans of the present, fighting on all manner of injury and hardship, on and off the field, athlete or not. It will always be represented by The Trojan.