A Drive to Achieve the Extraordinary. This is the "This I Believe" essay that I read today. I say read because I couldn't listen for some weird reason. Anyway. The essay was written by Juliet Frerking, and in her essay, she starts out with talking about her fascination with the Guinness World Records book. She was inspired as a young child to achieve greater things in life, to go above and beyond even if your friends or family heckle you for trying. This essay especially inspired me because I feel as though almost everyone, especially on UK campus, conforms extremely easily. I feel like many people are always doing the same things. Juliet's essay reminded myself that it is admirable to be different, and to go above and beyond the normal. In Juliet's essay, she said "Reassured by Mrs. Balanoff, our third grade teacher, that we could be anything when we grew up." This is always a belief that I've held close to my heart, and have always thought back upon it when I was feeling that I had to be something that I'm not. Many people do things that they have absolutely no interest in, just so they can impress their friends or family. I like to do things because they interest me, and because I'll gain happiness from my actions and efforts. For example, my studies. I am studying Marketing and French because I want to go into fashion marketing, and I love the language of French. Instead of going pre-med or any other major that doesn't interest me at all, I'm ignoring my families urges for me to go onto something that will guarantee me a job, and doing what I want and love to do. I could really relate to Juliet's essay for many reasons. Some being: her early inspiration to follow her dreams, her perseverance through criticism, and her determination to become something greater than she would have imagined.