‘Connecting the dots is about embracing times of uncertainty, not running from them’: American Paralympic high jumper Sam Grewe

In a TEDx Talk, USA Paralympic high jumper Samuel Grewe shed light on the importance of connecting the dots looking backward instead of looking forward through his life experiences.
He began his talk sharing how, at the age of 13, he was diagnosed with cancer and had to go through a leg amputation. He mentioned that he was inspired the words of Steve Jobs who said: “You can’t connect the dots looking forward, you can only connect them looking backward”.
Grewe shared that when he was going through chemotherapy, spanning over the course of two years, he learned extremely valuable lessons, ones that can’t be taught in educational institutions. He added, “I learnt how vulnerable it is to have your hopes and dreams put on hold, to have your health and autonomy stripped from you”.

Life in the hospital was hard, but Grewe didn’t give up. He spent early mornings and late nights studying with the hopes of catching up with his peers, he did countless hours of physical therapy in the weight room for his sole goal of playing sports again. After persevering and working towards his goal every day, he finally went on to become a champion in the 2020 Tokyo Paralympic Games and won a gold medal for his country. About his achievement, Grewe said: “I carried a new confidence, I returned home with a new identity, I no longer saw myself as a damaged remnant of my former self but rather as a fighter, strong and capable enough to overcome anything”.
Further, he shared how he felt a “calling to a career in medicine” where he would have the opportunity to take the lessons he learned when he was undergoing treatment and use that to give back to others who might be experiencing similar challenges.
Grewe concluded summarising the lessons he has learned from his journey as a medical student, three-time world champion, and the first-ever division amputee high jumper: “As you go forth in your own lives and you experience your own challenges, your own obstacles, your own dots and you find yourself asking ‘why me?’, remember the process of connecting the dots is not a passive one; connecting the dots is about perseverance, it’s about pushing through the obstacles put in front of you and treating these obstacles as opportunities to learn, to grow. Connecting the dots is about embracing times of uncertainty, not running from them.”
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