The Difference Between Difficult and Impossible Selected Paragraph — Marcus Aurelius, Meditations, Book 5: “But if a thing is difficult to be accomplished by thyself, do not think that it is impossible for man: but if anything is possible for man and conformable to his nature, think that this can be attained by thyself too.” In this passage, Marcus Aurelius argues that difficulty should never automatically be mistaken for impossibility. Instead, we should judge obstacles by whether they can actually prevent us from moving forward, rather than by how intimidating they appear. I believe Aurelius is asking his reader to recognize the difference between an obstacle that makes a goal harder and one that truly makes it unattainable. His words are not a promise that determination guarantees success. They are a warning against deciding that we are incapable of something simply because accomplishing it will require more from us than we expected. The distinction between “difficult” and “impossible” is what makes this passage meaningful to me. Those words can begin to feel like they mean the same thing when we are struggling. Difficult describes the effort, sacrifice, or persistence something requires. Impossible means that it cannot be done. Yet when we become overwhelmed, it is easy to turn “this is difficult” into “I cannot do this.” Aurelius challenges that leap in reasoning. He asks us to look at the obstacle itself before deciding what it says about our abilities. Engineering has taught me to think about problems in much the same way. When a robot does not work, saying “the robot doesn't work” tells me almost nothing. I need to figure out why. Is there a problem in the code? Is a motor failing? Is there too much friction in the mechanism? Did we build something incorrectly? Or was the original design flawed? A failed robot does not immediately prove that the idea was impossible. It tells me that the current solution did not work. That difference is important. As a robotics coach, I see students struggle with this all the time. They can spend hours designing and building a mechanism only to test it and discover that it does not work. Sometimes their first reaction is frustration: “I can't do this.” However, the failure of a design and the ability of the person who created it are two completely different things. The failed design gives us information. We can examine it, learn from it, make changes, and try again. I believe Aurelius is making essentially the same separation. **“This is difficult” is an observation about a task. “I cannot do this” is a judgment about oneself.** The first statement may be completely accurate. The second has not necessarily been proven. This idea has become increasingly important to me as I pursue my engineering degree. I did not grow up expecting to attend college. I grew up in a low-income household completely off the grid. We relied on solar panels for electricity, and I hauled water for basic things such as bathing and washing clothes. As a first-generation college student, I did not have someone in my family who could explain how college worked or show me the path they had taken. I had to learn much of it as I went. Today, I am pursuing an engineering degree with an emphasis in robotics while teaching seventh-grade science, coaching robotics, and raising my family. There are days when completing my degree feels incredibly difficult. I have questioned whether I am capable of finishing. That is where Aurelius's distinction matters to me personally. Feeling overwhelmed is real, but being overwhelmed does not prove that my goal is impossible. At the same time, I do not interpret Aurelius as saying that every obstacle can be overcome if a person simply tries hard enough. That would ignore the reality of people's lives. Financial circumstances, disabilities, family responsibilities, discrimination, health, and countless other factors can create very real limitations. Persistence cannot magically erase them. What we can control is whether we declare ourselves defeated before we have determined what is actually possible. This is especially important to me as a mother. Several of my children have disabilities and unique needs. Two are autistic, one has severe ADHD, and another has a genetic condition that affects the bones in her body. I know they will encounter things that are genuinely more difficult for them than they are for other people. They may also encounter people who look at those difficulties and make assumptions about what they will never be able to accomplish. I cannot honestly tell my children that they will be able to do absolutely anything they want. No one can make that promise. What I can teach them is not to surrender their possibilities unnecessarily. I want them to learn to ask, “Is this actually impossible for me, or do I need to find a different way?” That question, to me, is at the heart of Aurelius's words. His philosophy also challenges the assumptions we make about who belongs in certain spaces. Sometimes the obstacle is not the task itself but the story we have created about the kind of person who is supposed to accomplish it. We develop pictures in our minds of who belongs in college, who becomes a scientist, or what an engineer is supposed to look like. If we do not fit that picture, it can be easy to conclude that the goal belongs to someone else. For much of my life, “engineer” did not seem like an identity that belonged to me. My background did not resemble what I imagined an engineer's path was supposed to look like. I was not following a parent into engineering or continuing a family tradition of higher education. I was a teacher, a robotics coach, and a mother returning to school while already carrying many responsibilities. Yet when I began studying engineering, I realized that my life had been teaching me engineering skills long before I knew what to call them. Growing up with limited resources taught me to solve problems with what was available. Teaching taught me to communicate complicated ideas in different ways. Coaching robotics taught me that failure is part of the design process. Motherhood has taught me patience, adaptability, advocacy, and that the same solution does not work for every person. The path I took was different, but different did not mean wrong. This is why I believe Aurelius's statement is more demanding than a simple message to “never give up.” Sometimes perseverance means trying again, but sometimes it means changing the design. It can mean asking for help, learning a new skill, taking a different route, or admitting that the first plan was not working. In engineering, stubbornly rebuilding the same failed mechanism without changing anything is not perseverance. It is refusing to learn from the evidence in front of you. Real perseverance requires adaptation. The same is true in life. Aurelius asks us to judge our obstacles accurately. We should not pretend difficulties do not exist, but we also should not give them more power than they deserve. A difficult path may require preparation, sacrifice, creativity, help from others, or a completely different approach. None of those things automatically means the destination is unreachable. I do not know exactly where my path in engineering will lead. I hope to build a career that combines robotics, engineering, creativity, education, and mentorship. I know reaching that goal will require me to continue balancing school with responsibilities that are not going to disappear simply because I have a dream. There will be difficult classes, failed designs, exhausting days, and probably moments when I question whether I belong. Aurelius's words remind me to be careful about how I answer those moments. Difficulty is evidence that something is hard. It is not evidence that I am incapable. The question is not whether the path is difficult. The question is whether difficulty has given me a sufficient reason to stop. So far, it has not.

The impact I want to make goes beyond earning a degree or building a successful career. I want to use my education to show others, especially children who come from difficult circumstances or live with disabilities, that where they begin does not determine where they can go. I want to create, inspire, and eventually give others opportunities to discover what they are capable of. I grew up in a low-income household, completely off the grid. We relied on solar panels for electricity, and I had to haul water just to do basic things like take a bath or wash my clothes. Growing up this way taught me to be resourceful and to appreciate what I had. When something went wrong, there was not always someone to call or money available for an easy solution. You learned to work with what you had and figure things out. Those experiences helped shape my curiosity and love of working with my hands. Today, I am a first-generation college student pursuing engineering with an emphasis in robotics. My dream is to eventually become a Disney Imagineer, where I can combine engineering, robotics, creativity, and problem-solving to build experiences that bring imagination to life. However, I do not want the knowledge I gain through my education to benefit only me. One way I hope to give back is by introducing children to engineering and robotics, especially those who may not normally have access to STEM opportunities. I know what it is like to grow up without a clear path to higher education or a career like engineering. In the future, I would love to volunteer with or help create programs where children can build, experiment, make mistakes, and discover that STEM can be for them too. Sometimes all it takes is one experience or one person believing in you to change what you believe is possible for your future. The people who inspire this goal the most are my children. They face challenges that others may view as limitations, including autism, ADHD, and, for one of my children, a condition that causes small bones in her body to fuse. They have taught me that people experience and interact with the world in different ways, and those differences should not automatically be viewed as weaknesses. This has also made me think about the kind of engineer I want to become. I want to approach what I create with empathy and consider people with different abilities, needs, and ways of experiencing the world. I also want my children to see me giving back. I want them to understand that success is not only about what you accomplish for yourself, but what you do with those accomplishments to help others. My vision for a better future is one where a child's income, disability, family background, or circumstances do not decide how big they are allowed to dream. My education will give me the technical skills to build and create, but my experiences have given me a reason to use those skills with purpose. If I can use my journey to open a door, inspire curiosity, or help even one child see possibilities they did not see before, then I will be building something far greater than any machine.

My long-term career goal is to become an engineer specializing in robotics and, ultimately, a Disney Imagineer. I have always loved working with my hands, figuring out how things work, and all things robotics. I want a career where I can combine that passion with creativity and problem-solving to build things that make people stop and wonder, “How did they do that?” Becoming an Imagineer would give me the opportunity to turn ideas that once existed only in someone’s imagination into something people can actually experience. However, my career goals are about more than doing something I love. They are driven by perseverance, family, curiosity, and the desire to create a better future. Growing up in a low-income household completely off the grid taught me to work with what I had, solve problems, and keep going when things were difficult. Those lessons have stayed with me and are part of why engineering feels like the right path for me. Most importantly, I am driven by my children. I want to provide them with opportunities and stability that I did not have growing up. I also want them to see that challenges, disabilities, or where you started in life do not determine how far you can go. By pursuing a dream that sometimes feels impossible, I hope to show them that their dreams are worth pursuing too.

Being the first person in my family to obtain a college degree would mean more to me than simply earning a diploma. It would mean proving that where you come from does not determine where you can go. More importantly, it would allow me to show my children that even when the path ahead seems impossible, they should never be afraid to dream bigger. I grew up in a low-income household, completely off the grid. We relied on solar panels for electricity, and I had to haul water just to do basic things like take a bath or wash my clothes. College was not something I grew up knowing how to navigate. There was no roadmap for me to follow, and becoming a first-generation college student means I am figuring out many of these things for the first time. That can be terrifying. One of my biggest fears is failing and not finishing school. However, I also know that I have already overcome circumstances that taught me how to work hard, solve problems, and keep moving forward when things are difficult. Those experiences are part of what has brought me here. I am pursuing a degree in engineering with an emphasis in robotics. I have always loved working with my hands, figuring out how things work, and all things robotics. There is something exciting about taking an idea that exists only in your imagination and finding a way to make it move, function, and become real. Engineering gives me the opportunity to combine creativity, problem-solving, and hands-on work into a career that I can truly be passionate about. My ultimate dream is to one day become an Imagineer for Disney. I want to help create the robotics, technology, and experiences that make people stop for a moment and wonder, “How did they do that?” It is a big dream, especially considering where I started, but that is exactly why pursuing it matters so much to me. My children are also a huge part of my motivation. They face challenges that others may view as limitations, including autism, ADHD, and, for one of my children, a condition that causes small bones in her body to fuse. I know there may be people throughout their lives who tell them what they cannot do because of a diagnosis or disability. I want them to be able to look at me and see what is possible instead. My long-term goal is not only to build a career that I love, but to create a better future for my family. I want my children to grow up with opportunities I did not have and the confidence to pursue their own dreams, no matter how impossible those dreams may seem. Being the first in my family to earn a college degree means I do not have someone else's footsteps to follow. I am creating the footsteps. One day, I hope to walk across that graduation stage with my children watching and show them that their mother came from very little, dreamed of building extraordinary things, and refused to give up until she had the opportunity to do exactly that.

As an engineer, I hope to create technology that improves people's lives while also inspiring the next generation to see themselves as capable problem-solvers. My goal is to build a career that combines engineering, robotics, innovation, and mentorship. My experiences have taught me to approach engineering from both a technical and human perspective. As a seventh-grade science teacher and FTC robotics coach, I have seen how powerful STEM can be when students are given the opportunity to experiment, fail, redesign, and ultimately succeed. Coaching robotics has strengthened my own passion for engineering while teaching me the importance of teamwork, communication, creativity, and perseverance. Being a mother of five has also shaped the engineer I hope to become. Several of my children have unique needs, which has taught me to advocate, adapt, and recognize that solutions are rarely one-size-fits-all. These experiences motivate me to approach engineering with empathy and to consider the people behind every problem I am trying to solve. I am currently pursuing my bachelor's degree in Engineering with a focus on Robotics, with the goal of eventually earning a master's degree. I hope to use that education to develop meaningful technologies that solve real-world problems while continuing to mentor young people in STEM. I want my impact to extend beyond what I engineer—I want to help build a future in which more people believe they are capable of engineering it.

1. Please tell us a bit about yourself and what specifically motivates you. If you could do anything with your life, what do you imagine you’d do? I am a seventh-grade science teacher, FTC robotics coach, engineering student, and mother of five. For the past three years, I have had the opportunity to teach science and help students discover that science is much more than facts in a textbook. I have also spent the past five years coaching robotics, where I have watched students take an idea, struggle through the design process, make mistakes, and eventually create something they are proud of. Those experiences are a huge part of what motivates me. My family is another major source of motivation. Raising five children, including children with unique needs and challenges, has taught me patience, resilience, adaptability, and advocacy. I want my children to grow up knowing that challenges may change the path you take, but they do not have to prevent you from reaching your goals. I try to demonstrate that through my own life by continuing my education while teaching, coaching, and raising my family. I am currently pursuing a bachelor’s degree in Engineering with a focus on Robotics. Returning to school while managing so many responsibilities has not always been easy, but earning my degree is incredibly important to me. If I could do anything with my life, I would build a career that combines engineering, robotics, education, and mentorship. I would love to work on technology that solves real-world problems while continuing to create opportunities for young people to experience STEM. Ultimately, I want students, especially those who may not immediately see themselves as engineers or technology professionals, to realize that STEM has a place for them. I want my own children and my students to see me pursue something difficult and understand that learning does not stop because life gets busy. My goal is not simply to earn a degree or find a new career. I want to use what I learn to create opportunities, solve problems, and encourage the next generation of problem-solvers. 2. What excites you about STEM? How do you feel you could make a positive impact on the world through a job in information technology? What excites me most about STEM is that it combines curiosity, creativity, problem-solving, and continuous learning. There is rarely just one way to approach a problem. STEM gives us the opportunity to ask questions, experiment, fail, redesign, and eventually create solutions that can make people's lives better. Robotics has especially strengthened my love for STEM because it brings so many different areas together. Building a robot requires engineering, programming, mathematics, technology, communication, and teamwork. As an FTC robotics coach, one of my favorite things is watching students encounter a problem they initially believe they cannot solve. Instead of giving them the answer, I can help them break the problem into smaller pieces, test different solutions, and learn from what does not work. Seeing the moment when they realize, “I figured this out,” is incredibly rewarding. A career in information technology would allow me to take that same problem-solving mindset and apply it on a larger scale. Technology affects nearly every part of modern life, including education, healthcare, communication, accessibility, and engineering. My experiences as a teacher and a parent have also made me aware that technology is most valuable when it is designed with real people and their different needs in mind. I believe I could make a positive impact by bringing together technical knowledge, creativity, empathy, and education. Whether I eventually work directly with robotics, engineering systems, educational technology, or another area of IT, I want to help develop solutions that are practical and accessible. I also want to continue mentoring students and encouraging them to pursue STEM careers. Technology can solve incredible problems, but we also need people who can help others understand it, access it, and see themselves as capable of creating it. 3. Please describe the greatest challenge you’ve had to overcome and how you managed to get past it. One of the greatest challenges I have faced has been learning how to pursue my own goals while carrying many responsibilities at the same time. I am a mother of five, a forever foster parent to my niece, a full-time science teacher, a robotics coach, and a college student pursuing an engineering degree. Several of my children also have unique needs that require additional advocacy, patience, flexibility, and support. There are days when balancing family, work, school, and everything in between feels overwhelming. The biggest lesson I have learned is that overcoming a challenge does not always mean making the challenge disappear. Sometimes it means learning how to keep moving forward despite it. I have learned to prioritize what matters, adapt when plans change, ask for help when I need it, and accept that progress does not always happen as quickly or perfectly as I would like. My children have been one of my greatest sources of strength. Advocating for them has taught me persistence and has changed the way I look at challenges. They have shown me that success does not look exactly the same for everyone. That lesson has influenced the way I parent, the way I teach, and the way I approach my own education. Returning to college for engineering while balancing everything else has required determination. There have been times when taking the easier path would have meant putting my education aside. Instead, I remind myself why I started. I want to create a better future for my family, continue growing professionally, and show my children and students that difficult circumstances do not determine what they are capable of achieving. I have not overcome my greatest challenge through one dramatic moment. I have overcome it through persistence—continuing to show up, learn, adapt, and try again. That resilience is something I will carry with me throughout my education and into my future career.