My superpower: Grit

 I was listening to Grit, the audiobook, and I realized that my superpower isn’t just asking questions—it’s grit. It’s dogged determination.

I remember my high school English teacher, Mr. Featherstone, telling me that I wasn’t the smartest student he had ever worked with, but I was the hardest working. He said this after I submitted an essay on Flowers for Algernon, accompanied by a hundred-page analysis of the protagonist’s development, tracking his progress day by day along several axes, such as cognitive development and other categories I found in a book from the University of Victoria.

Another time, he pointed out my creativity when I affixed a metal bracket to my finger so I could play the violin in a school concert—despite having sprained my finger in a basketball accident. At first, I thought that moment highlighted a superpower of innovation or creativity. But upon further reflection, I think it comes back to grit—the determination to play somehow, even with an injury.

I’ve also considered my ability to ask good questions—to really get to the heart of a matter—as a superpower. But thinking about it more, that too comes back to grit: the deep desire to know, to truly understand.

So, I guess my superpower—my fundamental superpower—is grit. Dogged determination.