Ambition CaseAmbition is the power that makes you walk with your head held high, puts a strut in your walk and the confidence to achieve what you desire. In life how does ambition affect an individual and the people around them?
In the excerpt from “Late Nights on Air”, the character Gwen is a very ambitious woman who seeks to succeed in her career. Her co-workers feel that she is somewhat untruthful about her persona she presents of herself, because of her presumptuous confidence she displays.
Ambition is a quality that one builds in themselves to achieve milestones in their lives. Gwen is striving to become the best radio personality that she can. She approaches her job with excitement; she exudes the confidence of a person who knows each detail of her position without faltering or having to ask for further information. For Gwen to succeed her need to act as if success has already been achieved is very important. It gives her the confidence to believe in herself.
Her co-workers see her confidence and eagerness as arrogance of a person who believes she is equal in knowledge to those who have much more experience then herself. Dido feels as though Gwen is assuming that she has full knowledge and understanding of the ways of the radio station. It is implied that she is not quite as shy as she lets on but rather this is a form of deception. Years ago I worked in a nursing home and remember the uncomfortable feeling of working with girls who were new to the job but acted as though they already knew anything I could teach them. I would go through their complete list of job duties starting with pouring and administering meds, followed by dining room duties and personal care. Certain girls would act as if they already knew; in fact they would offer advice to me on my job performance. I remember thinking your way over confident. Looking back I believe that I knew my job very well but these girls that seemed over confident really did annoy me. In my minds
I was still afraid to say anything or say anything but I was so used to this idea. Gwen’s attitude of doing what she expects of her colleagues was so arrogant. Although in a certain way her co-workers have done their best to pretend that their lack of knowledge and experience make up for it, their attitudes, personality and attitudes made it almost impossible for me to ever look back at them.