So what the heck is grit?

Well, officially it's the combination of persistence and resilience.

Big words, huh?

Persistence means you keep going even when the going gets tough and you stay focused on the task without getting distracted.

Resilience is toughness.

When you get knocked down, you bounce back up and try again.

When you have both of these qualities, we call that grit.

And once you have grit, you can learn anything.

But why is grit so important to learning?

Because when things are easy and you're coasting along, it's nice, it might even be fun for awhile, but you're not learning.

Learning comes from struggle from trying and failing, then learning from your mistakes.

Remember when you first learn to ride a bike? Or swim? Or play an instrument? Or do long division?

It seems impossible at first and if you gave up after the first try, it would be...

But you're persistent, you keep trying.

You start to get the hang of it.

You practice; you work at it a little bit at a time and eventually it starts to get easier for you.

You learn from your mistakes.

And the more you work, the easier it gets.

But remember, learning is hard work.

That's why you need grit because the key to success in school and life is how you react when things don't go your way.

So the next time you're struggling with something in your life or in your science book, just remember it's part of learning.

And with a little hard work and a lot of grit, you can do things that once seemed impossible!