How does Outliers connect to MY life?

            Outliers was a very mysterious and quite connectable book. Gladwell describes the differences that can connect to my life, and the lives of many others. These connections are the outliers in our lives. These outliers are the differences that make us unique and noticeable. An outlier is something that is situated away or that is markedly different from others of the sample or related body.

A connection to my life is when my mom went through her pregnancy. During the beginning years of my parents’ marriage, they were sure they wanted to have children. At this time, my mother didn’t know that she carried a genetic disease called a translocation. When my mom got pregnant for the first time, my parents were very excited for the life of their new child. My parents bought clothes, diapers, and even created a nursery during the first two months of the pregnancy. About two and a half months in, my mother experienced the most tragic incident that could’ve ever happened. She miscarried her first child. This experience made her feel like an outlier. The knowledge that she might not be able to have kids, frightened and made her very angry. She felt different than all of her other friends, and she was jealous of how their pregnancies’ were healthy and going normal. Her outlier feelings made her become sad and alone. Luckily, she came out of these feelings and tried again to have a baby. My parents but everything in the past, and hoped for the best. At this time she still didn’t know about her translocation. My mom became pregnant again, and became very aware and fearful to endanger the baby. She stayed inside and incubated the carrier of the unknown disease. Again, the baby miscarried, and my mom felt beaten. She was an outlier; she wasn’t able to have children. She saw other mothers and families holding and loving their children, but she wasn’t able to have her dream. She felt different and some what unique compared to others. Her thoughts of maybe she wasn’t supposed to have children. Well, she wanted to accomplish her dream, and she knew that she was going to. She then sought genetic counseling. She found out that her number 3 and 18 chromosomes translocated. This means that when the baby started to develop, the translocation halted the growth and prevented the baby from developing. The doctor said that she most likely wasn’t able to hold a pregnancy and that she should stop trying. Well, against the doctors words, my parents did try again, and the pregnancy worked. No miscarriages or outlier feelings. She felt proud and showed off her stomach. She was told that her pregnancy was healthy and that although the baby carried the translocation, it didn’t affect his growth.

My mom then conquered her inner outlier, and created me. Her outlier was that she wasn’t able to have a baby. She felt alone, and sad, but her outlier turned for the better, and showed that maybe being an outlier can show you the better things in life and to never give up.

        I can also connect to the 10,000 hour rule. When I started playing guitar, I found it to be quite difficult. I knew that practice was key, and that I needed to try and work very hard to achieve the ability that I wanted to. “The Beatles ended up traveling to Hamburg five times between 1960 and the end of 1962. On the first trip they played 106 nights, five or more hours a night. On their second trip, they played 92 times."  (49) This shows and connects to me by saying that much practice is needed to achieve a talent at something you want to be good at. The Beatles practiced everyday for multiple hours, and although I didn’t practice for 4-5 hours a day, I did try to be the best at what my teacher was teaching me. I tried to achieve my goal of practicing daily. “We played seven nights a week. At first we played almost nonstop till twelve-thirty, when it closed, but as we got better the crowds stayed till two most mornings.”(49) This shows pure dedication in The Beatles’ passion. They wanted to become the best they possibly could, so they played long nights and practiced every day. Although I never played 10,000 hours, I did always try my best, and wanted to be the best I possibly could. I can relate to The Beetles because they always tried their hardest, and worked long hours to be the best. “We got better and got more confidence. We couldn’t help it with all the experience playing all night long.” (49) As I became better with guitar, I also became more confident, and wanted to play longer and longer. Although I never became the best, I improved my guitar skills greatly. When I started in April of 2002 I barley knew how to hold the guitar, but at the end of June 2008, I knew how to read sheet music, and play by ear! Learning guitar taught me that practice is much needed, and that the skills needed to be perfect take a lot of time. The time needed to become perfect does take 10,000 hours. These hours are consumed with large amounts of hard work and dedication that are needed to achieve your best ability.
            Another part of Outliers that I can relate to is flight of Avianca 052. As a child, I was very timid, and lacked courage. I rarely talked in school, and was a little unsocial. This related to the story when Klotz didn’t use strong enough words to express their point. “ATC: And Avianca zero-five-two heavy, ah, I’m gonna bring you about fifteen miles northeast and then turn you back onto the approach. Is that okay with you and your fuel?
Klotz: I guess so. Thank you very much.” (199) When Klotz said I guess so, this indicated that he isn’t positive and isn’t sure about the situation. He didn’t want to stand up the ATC and say that they needed to land now, and there was no time to waste. He wasn’t bold enough to speak up, and command because the JFK ATC’s are known to be rude. “The thing you have to understand about that crash,” Ratwatte said “is that New York air traffic controllers are famous for being rude, aggressive and bullying.” (200)  This tells us that to an immigrant, speaking up to a foreign person can be very intimidating. As a child, I was very much independent probably as a result of being an only child. I grew and learned how to talk to people over time, but from a young age, I had a problem of speaking to strangers, adults, or anyone intimidating. Intimidating people are very difficult to speak to. Speaking to an unknown person, who obviously has a harsh reputation, is very scary, and is hard to get the point across. I do agree that the captain should’ve spoken up, but I also do agree that speaking to new people is also very difficult!
            Being an Outlier accompanies everyone’s lives. Everyone is an outlier in some way. An Outlier is someone that is different. Is different bad? Uniqueness is what people noticeable. Being noticed is much easier when standing out of the crowd. Being ordinary isn’t very much fun. Standing out makes you be remembered. An outlier is a difference from others. This can apply to almost any circumstance. An outlier is neither good nor bad. Being an outlier shows that differences are what makes humans recognizable. Similarities are noticed, but uniqueness is embraced.