A valiant knight dressed in brilliant shining armor riding on a white horse, rides towards his maiden’s tower, risking his life, to defeat the horrendous dragon that dwells within the castle and imprisons the princess. This sort of bravery is what usually comes to mind when the word courage is brought up in conversation. Courage seems to be a word used when someone goes to great lengths in order to accomplish something, and most of the time risking something of value. When I hear about courage, it’s usually used in such context as “Oh yeah, that girl from chemistry got up right in the middle of class and asked the cutest boy there if he wanted to go to Tolo with her.” Or when courage is in the news, the latest thing I’ve heard was when a plane crashed into the Hudson River, and everyone amazingly survived. People all around the U.S. had said that the pilot was very courageous, and was very skillful in landing the plane into a body of water without anyone getting hurt or having the plane completely ripped to shreds by the impact.
Courage has been shown in history books; people like Harriet Tubman, who led black slaves to freedom through an underground railroad. Being hit on the head by her master by a piece of metal when she was younger had caused her brain damage, giving her seizures and a possible case of epilepsy. Harriet traveled during the night, following the North Star, cautiously gathering fellow slaves and leading them along the Choptank River to freedom. She risked her life and the lives of others in order to save them from the cruelty of slavery. All during our lifetime in school, we read about the courage of others who have changed the course of the future for the entire world. But I think each one of us should look more at the little things that we do ourselves that is courageous, and be proud. Be proud of the things that we do that change the course of the future for ourselves and possibly the lives of others around us. Because changing the lives of others can set off a chain reaction, spreading itself from one person to the next, and giving them their own courage. The courage to stand up in what they believe in, speak out, and admit their own faults.
I have a story of when I was courageous that drastically changed my life. It was merely a year ago when I got my very first job. I wanted to work for a demo, handing out little samples of food as customers passed by at Safeway; it was their grand re-opening after they had finished re-modeling the building. During my interview with a woman who worked there, I was as nervous as I could be, and she could tell. Although she was kind and smiled at me, I felt a hint of pity behind her happy expression. This small girl quietly and shakily answering the woman’s questions such as “How many hours can you work?” and other simple questions about birth date and personal skills that most other people would calmly and confidently answer. After the interview was done, I slowly walked away and sat down on the bench, taking long deep breaths. I couldn’t believe what I had just done, and I was praying that I would get the job. A couple days later I got a call, and was notified that I had gotten the job. My first day was terrifying, but I knew that this was something I had to do, and I would just have to suck it up and be brave. I was kind to customers as they walked by, and handed them samples of food. I was a bit humiliated while wearing the puerile nametag, a dwarfing black apron that had it’s pockets stuffed with my keys and cell phone, and a little black bow tie that had always gone a bit sideways on its own that I would always have to straighten out. That bow tie was my worst enemy; the first day I had worked there I somehow put it on the wrong way, and was completely embarrassed as my boss pointed it out in front of all the other employees. From then on I always had my head down whenever I took my break in the small room in the back of the store with some of the other workers. After the breaks I quickly went back to work, just wishing that the day would end soon so I could go home and relax. Every day I had kept a small smile on my face and greeted people with a shaky voice, saying things like “Hello, would you like to try some freshly cooked halibut from the meat department?”
Throughout my time at Safeway, I learned more about myself, about people, and about the working environment. The experience had opened my eyes to a bigger world. At the end of each day while I was there, I felt proud of myself for being courageous and pushing myself into getting the job and sticking with it, even while I was humiliated and felt like leaving in the middle of work to go home and be by myself. Though perhaps I did not change the lives of others, I had begun to shape the course of my own future, and I had grown brave and more independent. That’s what courage means to me, a person taking a small step out of their comfort zone to make a big difference in their own life, and possibly the lives of others.
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