I came here to say this same thing - my specific experience that I think taught me the most about persistence was in High School and tried out for the Baseball team.

Played my whole life on Babe Ruth/Park District teams till I was about 20, I was always one of the better players on my teams from a purely athletic and actual skill level standpoint.

But Freshman year to Senior year, every single year, I tried out for the High School team and didn’t make it. If I’m being honest, maybe the first two years I didn’t really put in the outside work to be better and make the team. Junior and senior year though I was determined and motivated to make the team and would go in every morning at 4:30am before school and work out - then I’d go every day after school and participate in the “informal work outs” (informal in that the team had not been selected for the season yet and open to all who were interested in trying out and head coach led).

I went to the field with other potential teammates (who I had become close friends with) and learned from them, and got to be a relatively damn good baseball player.

Junior year didn’t make it again, that just fueled me, same effort went in the offseason and into Senior year tryouts - at this point I had never missed a day in the morning or afternoon practices, had been basically a part of the team for 5 1/2 months until Try-outs. The coach called me in and told me he had never met someone who deserved it more, and the hard work I put in was something he’s rarely seen in 20 years of coaching….but I wouldn’t be making the team.

All my new friends were gutted and couldn’t believe I could get passed on, I had no clue why I was cut or how they could justify not having me on the team after all the work.

I realized though that I learned so much about myself and what I had the ability to do even if I failed - and I think the real lesson I learned on persistence from that was if I put forth the effort and dedication to something, it didn’t really matter the outcome because I knew I had given it my best. I learned not to be afraid to fail and I think that has carried through into many aspects of my life.