Why does gravity go downward? Why are seasons cyclic? Why can’t we stop the time? Gravity, seasons, and time are all parts of nature, and nature itself is unchangeable and awe-inspiring. It gives us the many rules, or laws, which we must abide by to survive. Ironically, the laws of nature also inspire us to change, improve, and innovate. The natural law of survival, for instance, can reflect hope. Case in point, when we plant seeds, we cultivate the hope of a new life much like the ocean grants hope to the river. In his works, Henry David Thoreau emphasizes the significance of the outcome of hope through laws, and Emily Dickinson highlights the importance of the process of hope through birds. In my perspective, even though both find traction in my life, I gravitate more towards Dickinson's idea about hope as a process because I am currently starting college applications, and there are benefits to being hopeful and motivated during this process.

Henry David Thoreau alludes to the laws of nature when he says that people should have hope if they want to heed good results. In “Life in the Woods”, for instance, his description of spring as the rebirth of winter indicates that people should maintain hope in life. Thoreau described the scenery, “Where yesterday was cold gray ice there lay the transparent pond already calm and full of hope as in a summer evening” (Thoreau 6). The change here shows how the melting snow in spring adds hope to the pond after a long winter. The hope that is depicted seems much like a rebirth after a dark or sluggish circumstance. Rebirth comes naturally in the transition from winter to spring. In “Walden,” it is implied that if people preserve their hopes, happiness and beauty will presumably come because the law of nature and survival says that spiring comes after winter in its cyclic way.

In my life, instead of hope bringing beauty, my hope has brought inevitable triumphs. When something great happens to me, I know it is because I envisioned something better, I had hoped for something more. One true example happened two years ago at PRISMS when our soccer team had a game with Wilberforce. At the end of the first half, we were three goals behind the opponent. When our coach huddled us together to motivate us, the coach said, “They can score three goals in the first half. We can also make three goals in the second half. Regardless of the situation, regardless of the scoreboard, we are here to win this. This is your time. Now go out there and take it!” In the second half, Kevin, a defender, surprisingly pressed the opposing defender to score a goal, which fed our hopes and sounded the horn for the counter-attack. My long pass to the striker made the second goal and Andy got a penalty kick. At the last minute, Steven made a beautiful and amazing curve of the ball as it soared through the air and swiped the goalkeeper’s hand…into the goal. We achieved this miracle! It’s because of the hope that was cultivated in the locker room and in our hearts. Each goal that we made strengthened the hope. We never give up our hope of triumph in such an unfavorable circumstance. We won.

Even though I found hope on the soccer field, Emily Dickinson’s idea about hope is especially vivid when she compares it to a bird; reiterating how natural the process of survival really is. In “Hope is the thing with feathers,” she uses a metaphor to highlight the qualities we need to stay motivated through the process of hope. In the first stanza, Dickinson expresses, “And never stop - at all -” (Dickinson). Thus, hope is a bird that never stops singing songs, which means hope can motivate people to never give up their lives — to keep surviving. Even though the birds face the “gale”, they can still produce the “sweetest” songs (Dickinson). As a result, hope can motivate people to confront their difficulties upfront. In this way, we have to go through the process of hardships but if we have hope, it will go much more smoothly. This directly relates to my life. From the poem, my “gale”, or my adversity, could be coming up in the form of applying to colleges. With the ever-growing competition to get into top schools, the process has become daunting. MIT is my dream school since I was in middle school. Therefore, even though MIT is the most competitive university, MIT is still my hope when I am learning. Last summer, with hopeful intent to learn and become suitable for MIT,  I decided to do math research relevant to Constructive Mathematics. This field is an innovative approach to solving problems. I was stressed about untraditional logic and professional terminology which differs from traditional mathematics. For example, once I spent a whole day trying to understand one concept. Thus, the complexity of the undertaking almost led me to give up. However, whenever I think about my game at MIT, I know I must go through this process guided by the hope to triumph. Therefore, I now take my time, enjoy each process that might lead me to my dream school, and calm down to understand those concepts. Ultimately, I spent two months finishing the advanced research project. This is how I know that Dickinson resonates: hope perches in my soul, it doesn’t stop, and the hope for MIT pushes me to improve myself to achieve this goal.

It’s true: both Henry David Thoreau and Emily Dickinson emphasize the importance of hope through nature. But, Thoreau focuses on the delightful consequences that hope can provide for us, while Dickison values the motivation and resistance that hope gives to the person during the process. Again, I gravitate more toward the motivational effect of hope that Dickison writes about because it is more important than the good results that hope can bring. It is not simply just wishing for hope to happen. To me, hope is essential since it involves the path to achieving it. Therefore, in order for the abstract idea of hope to become more palpable, we have to consciously strive and take action. My high college motivations prove this point. I clearly understand that admission to MIT cannot be guaranteed. However, everything that I am doing now—the actions—can improve the possibility of admittance. Even if I do not get admitted to MIT, the process of effort and hope will be well worth it. Overall, the effects of motivation brought by hope are much more beneficial than the results in any given situation.

As we can see, transcendentalists utilized nature to highlight the significance of hope. It can throw us into despair if we hope for something and it doesn’t happen. But, if we enjoy the process naturally, then we stay motivated. If we take all the actions we can take, it will always be a successful venture. Just as the river hopes to survive with the ocean’s help, the process never ends and is unchangeable. But, unlike the river, hope can be achieved internally but can also be shared externally as we motivate one another through the process of life, no matter how hard it gets. 

Work Cited 

Thoreau, Henry David. Walden. Princeton University Press, 2004.

Dickinson, Emily. “‘Hope’ is the thing with feathers.” Poetry Foundation, 1861.