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