The mountain was high, the path steep. I would climb the highest peak in Texas: Guadalupe Mountain. Two thousand feet of vertical distance and an eight mile trip would be hard. I didn’t know what to expect. Never had I climbed a mountain this high before.

Two hours later after beginning our trek, four of eight bottles of water my dad and I carried were down our gullets. We kicked up dirt with each step, our hearts heavy. At the top of every mountain we climbed to, the path just connected to a higher mountain.

Every time, when the path began to flatten out and my eyes widened for what I was hoping would be the peak, it turned out to be yet another hump, never the highest point. I could only go on. I knew I would make it if I kept on going, one step at a time.

One step: it’s only around two feet. Yet walk two feet every second, and after an hour, more than a mile goes by. It’s a testament to faith and a demonstration of perseverance. Much can be achieved one step at a time.

In the real world, not much is different. When I started my weblog, I never thought it would amount to anything. Three years later, three hundred articles have been written, one article at a time, one word at a time.

Take one step more and greatness can be achieved. If everyone in the world came together and took one extra step forward, the world would be a different place.

I began a class newsletter in second grade, hopes low. We formed an editing team, and four years later, we pumped out thirty five issues, received one Texas grant, and together, over four hundred articles were written by our classmates. Sometimes I wonder how we got so far. The answer: one issue at a time.

All of the great inventors had one thing in common: they persevered. Benjamin Franklin, Thomas Edison: without them, the world would not be the same. I starred ahead as I thought of this.

The rock path began to subtly flatten out. And suddenly, out of the blue, the path curved sharply and ended.

I could not believe it at first. Could this really be the top? Could these five hours we spent climbing the mountain finally pay off? But then reality dawned on me, and I confirmed it: I was at the mountain peak.

A metal pyramid was bolted to the top of the mountain, a small logbook at the bottom. Around me, the plains of Texas extended endlessly. The wind billowed around me, making my clothing ripple. The late afternoon sun shone, casting an orange hue. The horizon curved ever so slightly.

As I signed the logbook, I realized that I had done it. I had gotten there one step at a time.

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school project, on This I Believe.