The boxer Anthony Joshua once said “wealth comes from character, not status”, and despite me being a motivational quote enthusiast, this is one of my favorite quotes. It reminds me that your most defining trait is your character—how you respond to challenges—rather than your status, which reflects only where you are in life at a given moment.

Background
Anthony Joshua’s story from humble beginnings to world champion is amazing in itself, but what makes Joshua connect with me on a much more personal level is how relatable his struggles are. Though a champion, he is also human. A moment that stood out to me was when he broke down sobbing into an expletive-filled rant in front of the whole world after losing his rematch to Oleksandr Usyk. His raw emotion in that moment, far from the typical image of an undefeated champion, reflected how hard he had trained only to still fail.

My Experience
The truth is, I’ve probably watched that video a hundred times simply because of how eerily I related to Anthony Joshua’s experience of doing everything in my power to succeed, only to still come up short. In my first year of college, despite my best efforts at adjusting to college, I struggled both socially and academically, and my whole family expressed disappointment with me, with some of them even telling me I was not suited for computer science and should switch majors. But despite these challenges, I was determined to learn from my failures. In my sophomore year, I rebounded strongly by improving my social skills, downloading internet blockers to supervise my productivity, and overall putting a renewed focus towards school.

Reflections
Just like Joshua after his loss, I realized that the true test isn’t how many times we fall, but how we rise after each fall. Every challenge became an opportunity to build the character needed to overcome future obstacles. And if anything, our character is the only thing we can truly keep with us, while our status is always subject to the whims of fortune and random chance.