2011 Student Writing Awards Booklet - Santa Fe Community College

danger, they put the lives of those he loved in danger, and they showed
him many things that could afflict him. He feared those things. He feared
greatly, but he fought. He ran to elders for consolation.The elders gave
him tools to repel what he could not see. Yes, the man and the raven
taught him how to fear, but their beloved learned how to overcome fear.
Second, they showed him how to hate. They planted seeds of discontent
in his heart, and they grew. He blamed everyone but himself for
his trials. He hated the things that happened to him. He hated people.
He hated actions and their consequences. He hated life itself.They taught
him how to hate, but he fought once more. He went to higher wisdom
for help, and he learned how to forgive. Since he learned to forgive, he
learned once more how to love. Yes, they taught him how to hate, but he
defeated his own hate with love.
Finally, they taught him how to doubt. They showed him that he
could not trust many things in his life. He listened to them eagerly, and he
learned willingly, though he could not know he was being deceived. He
doubted everything, including the higher wisdom that had saved him so
many times before. He doubted the higher wisdom so it could not show
him how to trust. Then he doubted people. He doubted that anyone really
loved him, and he could not bring himself to trust others with his
secrets. He doubted Love. He wondered whether loving anything was
worth the adversity he was suffering. Most of all, he doubted himself. The
man and the raven told him he was weak, and he believed them. They
told him he should not exist, and he believed them. Yes, he embraced the
idea that he should not exist. It soon became everything he lived for.
When he doubted himself, he remembered how to hate.When he hated
himself, he remembered how to fear.The man and the raven rejoiced, for
now they were in control. They could penetrate his defenses, and behold,
it was only a matter of time.They would soon be able to finish their work.
On a desolate night, they visited him.They were driven by their
purpose. They were motivated by their malice—control was within their
grasp. The beloved was weak. He had run out of hope, he had nothing to
cling to. He wanted nothing more than for his tribulation to end. He
knew not what to do, so he doubted, he hated, and he feared. Then they
were there, and they deceived him. They seemed to give him hope,
though they were only capable of despair. They seemed to offer him rest,
though they knew they could only offer suffering. They offered him a
solution. When there was nothing left for him, they gave him a way out.
The final lesson they taught him was how to love pain. They taught him
how to hurt himself to distract his mind of the things he hated. He
learned well.Yes, this lesson he learned the best of all. He loved pain, he
valued it above all else. He sought refuge in pain, he looked for respite,
and he received it. He did not care what it did to him. He longed for the
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