Sir Ernest Shackleton

Sir Ernest Shackleton was no stranger to resilience. In fact, one of his ships was named Endurance. Shackleton had a mission to make to the Antarctic and explore what he found there. Nothing, not health, being beaten to the continent by other explorers and other setbacks could keep him from fulfilling his mission. At every setback, he continued to be determined to stay the course.

Early Life
Ernest Shackleton was born on February 15, 1874 in Ireland. As a child his family moved around Ireland and then settled in London, England. While he had a fairly uneventful childhood, there was one activity Shackleton really enjoyed – reading. Through books, he went on many adventures and those adventures would come to shape the adventurous spirit that would guide his adult life. When he was 16, Shackleton’s sense of adventure developed even more when he joined the Merchant Navy.

He started his time in the Navy completing an apprenticeship aboard the Hoghton Tower, a ship owned by the North Western Shipping Company. Shackleton’s thirst for adventure grew as the ship traveled around the Earth. He continued working for shipping companies and developing his skills, but he longed to do something bigger. According to the book Ernest Shackleton: Gripped by the Antarctic, Shackleton once confided in a shipmate “I think I can do something better. In fact, really, I would like to make a name for myself” (Johnson, 19).

Becoming an Explorer
The skills that Shackleton developed proved to be worthwhile. In 1901, he was asked to join an expedition and be one of the first people to reach the South Pole. The expedition was led by Captain Robert Falcon Scott. Shackleton developed resilience while traveling on the ship by having to deal with a captain who had a leadership style he didn’t like. During the mission Shackleton also gained new experiences, faced hardships and also had his first taste of failure. He was part of a special march to reach the South Pole with the captain and another man. All of the dogs who accompanied them on the march died. Shackleton and the other men developed scurvy and faced frostbite. After returning from the march, Shackleton was sent home on an emergency ship because he was too weak to continue the journey.

However, for Shackleton, some frostbite, scurvy and general weakness could not keep him away from what because his dream – reaching the South Pole. In 1908, Shackleton joined the Nimrod expedition and became one of the first people to reach the South Polar Plateau. On the way back, he and the other men nearly starved, causing them to learn to ration what they had and often sacrifice food for the health of others.

Shackleton was met with a lot of praise, but that praise did not diminish his hunger for more. Even though he was deeply in debt from the expedition, he continued on with his explorations. Shackleton’s next expedition on the ship Endurance would test his resilience even more. The ship itself became frozen in an ice floe and eventually began to sink, causing all men to abandon ship. Shackleton and his crew were praised for the fact that no lives were lost, but they had to camp for months on ice floes and fight for survival until they could reach land. By the time they reached land, they had been at sea for nearly 500 days and were severely frostbitten.

Shackleton faced other failed expeditions. Then he joined the army during World War I and fought for his country, even though he had a heart condition and was advised against fighting. He drank heavily to ease his pain and help cope with his life in general.