GRIT.

It's a simple four-letter word. As a noun it is either 1) "small, loose particles of stone or sand" or 2) "courage and resolve; strength of character." It's also a verb: 1) "clench (the teeth), especially in order to keep one's resolve when faced with an unpleasant or painful duty" or 2) "move with or make a grating sound."

UNI Football uses "GRIT" as their social media hashtag and slogan for graphics. As I learned through my undergraduate internship with them, there's also more that "courage and resolve; strength of character" can be broken down to and encompass as a whole.

G: GENUINE

Genuine: adjective, "truly what something is said to be; authentic"

To be genuine in this world can be difficult. We often use social media to paint perfect pictures of our lives when really, we could be falling apart. We become "fake" in person when we don't like someone or when we're hiding our scars. But to be our genuine selves and to be genuine to others is when we are at our best. Why? We don't get stuck behind the masks we use to hide with and we are able to create stronger bonds with those around us. When we're genuine the other person doesn't have to keep guessing if they're interacting with our true self (and likewise).

R: RESILENCY

Resiliency: noun, "the capacity to recover quickly from difficulties; toughness"

This world is tough and it's tough in different ways for different people. In the world of athletics this definition of "to recover quickly from difficulties" could mean injury- you have to have a certain sort of physical toughness to be a college or pro athlete- but in general resiliency comes in all forms. Spiritual, physical, mental, a combination. To be resilient, you get up when you fall and you keep going. No matter how far your fall, no matter how low you feel, you continue to fight. And you take what might have brought you down and you become stronger from it. You develop a toughness unique to yourself, because only you know exactly what you've been through.

I: INTEGRITY

Integrity: noun, "the quality of being honest and having strong moral principles; moral uprightness"

We each have personal standards we hold ourselves to. We are often asked (especially in college) "what are your morals?" and then we'd have to do an assignment over it. For one, you have to be true to yourself, honest to who you are as a person. Your morals help build you up as a person and play into your views and decisions in the world. But your morals should never change for someone else because you like them or you're afraid of them or for any other reason. You can't be honest to others if you are not honest to yourself.

T: TENACITY

Tenacity: noun, "the quality or fact of being very determined; determination"

To achieve what you want your life to be like you must be tenacious. For if you do not have the determination and the will to chase your dreams, live your best life, achieve more, etc, you will not be where you envisioned yourself to be. Nothing in life is just handed to you- you have to prove yourself. You have to prove yourself time and time again. Your life will always be changing, you must be determined to flow with the change or make the changes yourself. And if you are constantly determined to reach your goals, you may reach your own definition on success.

G.R.I.T

GRIT as a whole: "courage and resolve; strength of character." There will be times in life where you feel like your grit is gone. The transition stages, the "great unknown," those will be the hardest times to hold onto your grit. Those will be the hardest times to think: "I am not failing. I just haven't found the place I'm supposed to be yet." I know this because I'm there right now. There will be days where you'll be more hopeful than others, there will be days where you feel nothing but despair, but NEVER loose your GRIT.

All definitions given by Siri.