Atomic Tom

6/26/2012

2 Comments

 
You can often tell a lot about a person's character when they face adversity.  Some people abandon their friends, some simply shut down, where others embrace the challenge and make something of it.  Atomic Tom, a band from Brooklyn, New York, virally demonstrated how they deal with adversity.  After the bands instruments were stolen, the band was left with nothing.  They suddenly were in the middle of an intersection, choosing their own direction, dictating their fate.  As they searched for ideas, Eric, the guitarist, came up with an idea of a live performance in the New York Subway.  However, the problem was how could they perform without instruments?  The band decided to create music by using the music Apps on their IPhones.  On one ride, the band performed their single, "Take me out" which was video taped and placed on Youtube.  The performance created amajor online buzz, and the video quickly recieved 5 million viewers.  Immediately they were guests on several talk shows and signed a deal to Universal Republic in January of 2010.  Their hard work paid off in the end, but it is how they responded to adversity is what the tale of the story is.  Often when we are down and out, we can easily decide to just give up.  Giving up should never be an option because when you do, you will never know what the opportunities of tomorrow can place you.
2 Comments
Joe Springfield
7/18/2012 01:09:29 am

I think you have bought hook, line, and sinker into what I call, "The Great American Lie": You can be whoever or whatever you want to be as long as you don't give up and try hard enough. The truth is, sometimes giving up and moving on IS the best option. People do hit the limits of their potential. Why should we tell the 5'9'' high school sophomore that if he tries hard enough he could be a NBA all-star? Is it possible? Sure... but why lead the kid down a path that will most likely waste his time and end in disappointment. The era of handling children with soft mittens and ensuring they all get a trophy needs to end. Not everyone can fly jets. Not everyone can become President. Not EVERYONE needs to go to college. We have facilitated generations of individuals who do not understand how to properly mitigate RISK! They have been coddled so much they do not know what to do in the face of adversity. Don't buy into the lie. There are limits to personal potential. What is important is helping individuals recognize their USEFUL talents to help them become successful and contributing members of society instead of our society's babies and baggage.

Reply
James Grubbs link
7/29/2012 12:54:26 pm

Welcome to my underconstruction blog Joe, althought I highly doubt that is your real name! You make very great points in your comment. As a teacher, I think it is always critical for us to evaluate strengths and weaknesses of all our learners. I believe that is one part of a process that is very critical for anybody that wants to be successful. I can definitely say that I am my own harshest critic by a long shot! I also believe educators need to also educate, not dictate. We need to educate our learners about future opportunities, not choose the opportunity for them. I also disagree with the thought that I am buying your idea of "The Great American Lie." I agree with you that eventually people hit their limit of potential. Your example is a great one because the chances that our potential leading us to becoming the next American President is very slim to none. (Also check out the Justin Bieber blog, "I am not saying a learner will be the next Justin Bieber!") However, does that mean we should teach our learners to "just give up?" I don't think so. We simply educate our learners about leadership. We teach them characteristics of past, present, and potential leaders. There will be many of our learners become future leaders. Just because they may not become The President Of The United States, doesn't me they could not possibly be a president of a buisness corporation. They could be the leader of a construction crew. They could be a leader in a school building! There are leaders all throughout our society! The same is with the 5'9 high school sophmore dreaming about the N.B.A. Many people want to become professional athletes throughout our country. However, for many, their potential might lead them to playing basketball for recreational use or lead them to playing or coaching in community leagues. Same could have been said about Atomic Tom! People love doing things they love to do! Should a teacher really just tell them to "just quit?" It would be very damaging to tell our learners to "just quit." A great quote from Theodore Roosevelt went , "It is hard to fail, but it is worse never to have tried to succeed." I think that is the kind of message we need to send our learners. Will everyone succeed? The answer is no. Success wouldn't be joyed or cherished if there wasn't failure. People fail everyday. As Michael Jordan, the greatest basketball player on earth, had said, his failures made him successful! When we fail, the lessons from adversity teach us a new lesson. We become better. Our Strength and perserverance become important to help us get to the next opportunity! Personally, I believe the people that do not attempt to achieve their dreams and goals eventually become miserable with the "what if questions!" They are also the ones that want to ridicule others because things are missing in their own life. And the funny thing about life, it never is to late to chase your dreams! We often think our dream ends when we become older, but it really doesn't. So lastly, I agree with many of your points, but disagree with many of them as well.

Reply



Leave a Reply.