In Episode 5 titled “Basketball Warriors,” we are told about Puerto Rico’s massive sports success, specifically basketball. The narrator walks us through the most important game in Puerto Rican basketball history, in which PR went against the US in the 2004 Olympics in Athens. This game was very nerve-wracking considering the US had its star players such as Alan Iverson, Dwayne Wade, Tim Duncan, and Lebron James. No one expected Puerto Rico to win. During the game, PR had been ahead of the US, and when the US had caught up to the score, Puerto Ricans started to lose hope. However, Puerto Rican player Carlos Arroyo “the young gun,” shocked everyone when in the last minute of the game he managed to bring PR back up 20 points, making them win the game. Arroyo made headlines as he posed for pictures showing off his jersey which said “Puerto Rico” on the front. It was an amazing moment for Puerto Rico since they were finally able to win against the US at their own game.
I was pleasantly surprised as I was listening to this episode. It was very refreshing to hear about an event that was actually used to describe Puerto Rican pride rather than the suffering and hardships Puerto Ricans have had to endure. The emphasis put on Puerto Rico beating the USA is extremely important because it demonstrates how PR was able to beat their “oppressors” and beat the country that was limiting them from reaching their full potential. Although Puerto Rico did not continue to win any games after the 2004 Olympics, this win was sufficient to leave them content for many years to come. It was a new sense of hope for the island and its people.
My question is: Can hope ever be enough to fulfill a person and should people always be expected to be hopeful when put in difficult situations?
Hope can be enough to fulfill a person if it’s actually fulfilled. People should always expect for hope, but should not stop working hard and just let things come to them.
Hope can fulfill a person, but it depends on what they are hopeful towards and I think that being hopeful in a difficult situation is good because it can help you overcome the situation.
Hope can be enough to fulfill a person, and yes people should always be hopeful in difficult situations, but when these situations are constant then a person can lose that hope for a better outcome.
I believe that hope is key in the human struggle, to make it out of a difficult situation there needs to be some type of hope for the better. But with the constant injustice in this world, it could be extremely hard to find hope in a situation that has zero to no positive outcomes.
I think hope can be enough to fulfill a person whether they are in a difficult situation but some people feel like they don’t have any hope cause of all of the things they go through so I believe people should have hope just a little bit cause having hope shows that you believe good thing will happen, however, some might believe that having hope make thing worse but having a little hope doesn’t hurt at all. And just have hope and let things go your way they are supposed to,
Hope can be enough to fulfill a person only if they continue to have that hope consistently throughout their situation. To say to someone that they need to have hope when they are in a difficult situation would be unfair because everyone deals with things in different ways. If you want to have an optimistic outlook on things then to have hope is helpful.
Hope is enough to fulfill a person because being put into a situation where all odds are against you, hope gives people inspiration and confidence to push through no matter how dire the situation may be. People shouldn’t always be expected to be hopeful but hope brings a sense of warmth on comfort in the the meantime to feel like someday it’ll come true if you push hard enough and this feeling does help many people
In desperate times, I feel that all a person can have is hope. Hope has proven to been enough to fulfil a person because sometimes there aren’t enough options so often people will rely on hope. Only through hope are we able to gain confidence, and further elevate it especially during difficult situations.
I think it all depends on the person, the situation, and the background, but I don’t believe that being hopeful is something that could fulfill a person because hope is close to the feeling that everything could be better or be easy when in reality being hopeful could only mean be ready to accept the worse. Hope could not fulfill a person if the situation is not something that is in your hands to solve.
I think that hope is enough to fulfill a person but only when the hope is being fed, in the sense that there are results being shown. I also believe that hope is always expected in difficult situations because the alternative is a much darker path. For example “ So I think there’s something special about looking back at what happened in Athens…They aren’t permanent. But that moment when the game is over and Puerto Rico is on top…. It tells people that yes, you can win.” This is a prime representation of how hope can fulfill a community because even if the moment is fleeting, it’s still a moment to take pride in, which also continues to feed that hope for the future.
Hope can fulfill a person only so much , and can really depend based on who this person is, how their mentality is, and the situation they are going through. While being hopeful is positive and would usually be expected amongst all people , it is not easy and some people just wouldn’t be able to have that hopeful mentality, usually due to their life experiences and situations. In other situations like competitions such as how Puerto Rico was playing against the U.S in basketball, hope is the best thing to have especially when you’re determined and working hard to win , you will get your way if you keep hope which is why it should be expected to have it in that moment. “As he walks off the court, cocky as all hell, he looks at the stands — and grabs his jersey and pulls forward the part where it says “Puerto Rico,” as if to show everybody watching the name of the place he’s from.” if Carlos didn’t have this level of hope and determination Puerto Rico wouldn’t have won.
I don’t believe hope will be enough to fulfill a person but it can’t help the people momentarily. In the transcript it says “ in sports we get the opportunity to be Puerto Rico the country from the Caribbean, we get to be someone” this shows how hope can only bring the people so far they want to be someone and their passion for sports come from this desire.
Hope can’t always be enough to fulfill a person. Hope by definition is “a feeling of expectation and desire for a certain thing to happen”. Someone who is fulfilled wouldn’t expect or desire things to happen. Instead, hope is enough to motivate someone to work toward fulfillment. It should not be expected of people to be hopeful when put in difficult situations but it should be encouraged. Expectations lead to disappointment which can cause more damage rather than provide guidance.
In the “Bankruptcy of Letters”, they describe Puerto Rico’s debt is like a big ocean with a lot of fish. Puerto Rico is in debt to all types of government creditors containing both powerful and minor creditors. It seems like that Puerto Rico is in a constant loop of debt, considering how much money and debt they’re accumulating from all various sources, which leaders me to believe that they’ll never be freed from their debt fully. The people of Puerto Rico are pleading to be heard, we’ve seen the detrimental events they’ve been through but yet their voices cannot reach out.
Sorry my last comment was to the wrong page.
Yes hope can be enough to fulfil a person in cases where Puerto Rico is constantly facing losses, and creates a sense of their being no hope. But during the battle with Puerto Rico vs the U.S in a national basketball match. Through Puerto Rico’s self determination, they were determined to win and it becomes the outcome ; a ray of light… that being “hope” shines through and makes one determined to act upon it.