“To be a great champion, you must believe that you are the best. If you're not, pretend you are. - Mohammed Ali. When we pretend to succeed, the brain conditions itself to succeed. When we develop the mindset of a champion, we convince our brain that we are champions. Acting as champions can persuade our brains that we are champions long before we have achieved the goal of becoming a champion. When we see ourselves as champions, we ignore the failures in our lives. Ali's quote motivates us to remain optimistic. Some artistic works that express optimism are the films 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. The Pursuit of Happyness is a film that shows how a struggling salesman dreams of becoming a successful businessman and achieves his dream by remaining optimistic. Chris Gardner and his son Christopher Jr. were homeless for a year and even when times were at their lowest, Chris Sr. instilled the idea of ​​optimism in his son. A particular conversation between Chris and his son went like this: “Chris Sr: That probably means there's a good chance. That means maybe we could do it or not. Chris Jr: Okay. Chris Sr: So what does that probably mean? Chris Jr: That means we have a good chance! When I hear probably, I assume the chances of anything happening are low, but in Chris' situation he considered 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 film that read: “Chris Sr: You have to trust me, okay? Chris Jr: I trust you. Chris Sr: Because I get a better job. In this situation, Chris Sr vi...... middle of paper ...... inspired me to remain optimistic because in every situation the underdog succeeded and overcame their obstacles. They all turn out to be my favorites because I am able to relate to each one individually. I can relate to The Pursuit of Happyness because of my financial struggles, Roar by Katy Perry because there have been situations in my life where I had to remind myself how strong I was, Soul Surfing 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 feel like quitting, but each time I do, I will reflect on each of these artistic works and use them as motivation to remaining optimistic hoping that something positive is waiting to happen.