The Power of Testimony

SAVING MY ASSASSIN
make good grades. That boosted my confidence and energized
me to work harder. He also encouraged me to compete
in academic decathlons. Under his supervision, I studied
hard and won many of the competitions. Every time I won,
I gained self-confidence. I was seventeen and a half, and I
believed I could conquer the world. It was a great feeling.
I knew everything—except how to exercise freedom of choice.
All my life, either Elena or my teachers had told me what
to do, and I had to follow their directions to a T. I always had
to stay within the boundaries of my chores or homework to
avoid punishment. I couldn’t choose the time or manner in
which to do them. I had never had any occasion to decide
for myself.
Once, Sherban gave an exam unlike any we had ever experienced.
Instead of assigning us a subject to write about or
listing questions to answer, he asked us to choose our own
subject from the class material. I found myself staring at a
blank notebook, unsure of what to do. I knew the class material
better than anybody, but that did not help. I had to
choose, and I was not used to choosing. I rocked from astonishment
to wonder to perplexity to fear. Why can’t he just tell
us what to write about? It seemed as though an eternity had
passed before I finally began writing.
I chose to write about my hero, Mircea cel Batran, later
known as Mircea the Great. Mircea ruled Wallachia, an
important state of Romania, from 1386 to 1418. He was
a wise and great military leader, and he was a fair ruler to
all. Many Romanians consider Mircea to be the bravest
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