“To be a great champion you have to believe you are the best. If you're not, pretend to be." - Muhammad Ali. When we pretend to be successful, the brain conditions itself to be successful. When we develop the mindset of a champion, we persuade our brain that we are champions. Acting like a champion can persuade our brain that we are champions well before we reach the goal of becoming a champion. When we consider ourselves to be champions, we ignore the failures of our lives , The Pursuit of Happyness and Soul Surfer, as well as the songs, Roar by Katy Perry and A Change is Gonna Come by Sam Cooke, is a film that shows how a struggling salesman dreams of becoming a man successful business and achieve his dream by remaining optimistic. Chris Gardner and his son Christopher Jr. were homeless for a year and even when times hit rock bottom Chris Sr. instilled the idea of ​​optimism in his son. One particular conversation between Chris and his son went like this: “Chris Sr: It probably means there's a good chance. Maybe it means we might or might not. Chris Jr: Okay. Chris Sr: So what does that probably mean? Chris Jr: It means we have a good chance!” When I hear this I probably assume the chances of something happening are low, but in Chris' situation he was looking at the glass half full instead of half empty. Chris wanted his son to have hope that they would attend the baseball game. There was also another scene in the movie that went like this: “Chris Sr: You have to trust me, okay? Chris Jr: I trust you. Chris Sr: Because I'm getting a better job. In this situation, Chris Sr vi...... middle of paper ...... influenced me to remain optimistic because in every situation the underdog has succeeded and overcome their obstacles. They all turn out to be my favorites because I can relate to each one individually. I can relate to The Pursuit of Happyness because of my financial struggles, Roar by Katy Perry because there were situations in my life where I had to remind myself how strong I am, Soul Surfer because as a cheerleader and field hockey player, I had to overcome many injuries, and A Change is Gonna Come by Sam Cooke because the civil rights movement is my story! As I begin my journey at an HBCU for the next 4 years, there will be times when I will feel like I want to leave, but each time I do, I will reflect on each of these works of art and use them as motivation to stay positive with the hope that something positive is waiting to happen.