In the beginning, I had set about the task with infallible perseverance. With $500 on the line, there was nothing too difficult and no challenge too large. I had accepted the job from my parents at the beginning of the summer of 6th grade, and had immediately set my mind to creating the shed that would one day sit in our backyard. The first few weeks of my work were pleasantly easy, and I progressed through my project at a great pace. But once the basics of the shed had been created, my work came to a standstill. I had set about making the shed, determined that I would craft something unique and special. I was sure that my creation would be no run-of-the-mill backyard appliance. But each time I tried to add my own piece of ingenuity, the shed would, in the most literal sense imaginable, come crashing down. When I attempted to put in skylights, I could not figure out how to keep the ceiling from caving in on me, and as a result was left with numerous cuts and bruises. When I tried to build a secret crawl door, the screws warped and I was left with a pair of hinges sticking out into a conspicuous hole in the shed’s wall. These made up just a small portion of the armada of setbacks that I faced. However, when I brought this predicament to my parents, I was met with only mollifying comments that went in one ear and out the other, serving as nothing but an annoyance like mosquitos buzzing around my head, harmless but bothersome nonetheless.
With each day that passed, I worked harder, and each night, I grew more bitter as the sun set, silhouetting my failure against the tangerine sky. Finally, as July drew to a close, and I looked out at my ramshackle creation after another hard day’s work, I realized something. Now, one might have expected this to be a story of a young boy, overcoming his failures and building something beautiful, and in a way that’s true, for as I looked out at that shed, pockmarked with lopsided birdhouses, crude windows, and other various architectural shortcomings, I realized that in a way, it was beautiful. Over weeks and weeks of hard work, and cruel failures, I had made this homely shed with my own hands, and it certainly was no run-of-the-mill backyard appliance. It defied the norms and had within it weeks of my blood, sweat, and though I’m not proud to admit it, some tears as well. While my craftsmanship was not perfect, it served a purpose far greater than it would have if I had been successful. It gave me a great deal of humility, and taught me that, sometimes to overcome challenges does not always mean to accomplish what you set out to do, but to learn to accept, and cherish things as they are.
- Nicolaus Dahl