Positive Ambition is the Best Ambition

Hello fellow bloggers! How has everyone been? I know it has been a while since my last post and you’re all disappointed, but no worries because I have a good one for you here today. Recently in English class, we have been reading Macbeth and have been discussing how his ambition is fueling him into doing bad things. Well, I have been looking through some articles about ambition and I found a good one, only difference is that this is about positive ambition. So, if you want to see for yourself, here’s the link to this article about positive ambition:

http://articles.baltimoresun.com/2013-05-09/entertainment/bs-sm-kevin-plank-20130501_1_kevin-plank-rye-whiskey-maryland-football-player/3

Kevin Plank is a man that many of you may not know, but the reason for this is that you know his company rather than the man himself. Kevin Plank was a walk-on football player at the University of Maryland. He may not have been the biggest and fastest player on the field, but boy was he a determined and persevering one. He’s the type of person that enjoys being the underdog and uses that as motivation. Well, during his football-playing days at Maryland, he had always felt like the cotton t-shirt he would have under his jersey would wear him down. He also noticed that it would get all soggy and dampened because of the sweat, rather than handling the absorbed perspiration. Plank wanted to fix this so he started testing different fabrics and came up with what is now a tight-fitting shirt that’s also known as Under Armor. Plank began by selling them out of the back of his car, to selling them in packages to teams, and now to having a billion dollar corporation. This is not where his ambition stops though; the coolest part about Plank is what he has done with all of it. Kevin’s pride for his hometown (Baltimore, Maryland) may be the most interesting thing about him. Rather than going to a better town to have his business, he decided to keep it in Baltimore. The reason for this is he wanted people to remember the city of Baltimore, and bring more achievement to it. In addition to Under Armor, Plank has developed a farm to raise horses for racing as well as a wine vineyard. Both of these things were made with the intention to have more accomplishments for the city.

I think that the ambition displayed by Kevin Plank is a great example of what ambition should be. He did not use any unjust means, was never not satisfied enough, he did not let it take over his life (he still goes to many of his sons’ sporting events to cheer him on), and he did not use any tactics requiring putting others down. He let his own entrepreneurship and passion; fuel his achievements as well as some pride for his town. He had all the right intentions and ended up prosperous. Good job Kevin!

God Bless and Roll Jays,

John Richter