The Courage of Children: Boston and Beyond XXXI

Seyma Elif Celik
Bahar Onal, Teacher
ide Okullari, Istanbul, Turkey
To me courage is being sure of yourself and believing in yourself to achieve
something. I’m not a brave girl actually, but I’m learning. My favorite quote
is, “Don’t be afraid of your fears. They are not there to scare you. They’re
there to let you know that something is worth it,” by C. JoyBell C. I like this
quote because fears must not be our handicaps. Handicaps withhold us from
something good or something bad. We know this but we must not forget:
Good things are behind handicaps. If we try to see the beauties behind
handicaps, our success will come for us.
I want to talk about how I face my fears. My biggest fear is speaking in public,
especially in front of my classmates. I’m always afraid of this. Speaking in front
of a crowd or class grows fear in me because I feel all alone, with the eyes of
my friends on me and only me. It’s terrible. If I make a mistake, someone
could laugh at me or jeer at me after finishing my speech. Two weeks ago, we
had a project in our Language Skills lesson called the Public Speaking Project.
In this project we had to give a speech in class using correct body language
and gestures like look at the audience, don’t speak too loudly or too quietly,
and sit or stand up straight.
“Expressing
yourself is such a
beautiful thing.”
After this project, I learned not to get stressed. Actually many things could
be simpler and more fun than I feared them to be. Expressing yourself is
such a beautiful thing. If I didn’t try to do it, try to be courageous, I wouldn’t
overcome my fears and I would be a failure. And this event would stick with
me for my lifetime. Courage is a step of success, and also believing in yourself
is a step of courage. They are siblings. And don’t forget: Believe you can and
you’re halfway there.
My fingers were icy, and I was in a sweat before speaking. I was scared because
I didn’t have enough courage to speak in front of the class. I didn’t know how
to do it, but I had to do it. I came in front of class, and I started to speak. I
looked at my friends’ eyes. I don’t speak fluently, so I decided I need courage.
The only need. Courage must be my friend, and it must come within me. And
the day came, and it was my turn to present.
First of all, my heart was in my mouth. But while I was speaking, my
heartbeat was not speedy. I spoke very well, and at the end of my speech,
my friends applauded me. It gave me more courage and gave me a very
good feeling. I achieved something that used to be my fear. The taste of
achievement is very proud.
The Courage of Children: Boston and Beyond
Volume XXXI
110 111