Courage in My Life
Sixth Grade ProgramSample Essays from Max Warburg Fellows
The following essays represent a selection of past years' Max Warburg Fellows and their courage essays. Be sure to check back occasionally as we will be updating the selection from time to time to highlight other students.
Larry, Solomon Lewenberg School, 1993
"Courage" to me is to be brave enough to fight for your rights, or figure out a way to do so without violence. There are all sorts of courage; one is faith.
I had times in my life when I had to use courage. One day I had some friends who asked me to do drugs, or drink, or smoke a blunt. I refused because I had courage, although everyone else was doing it. I also had courage to encourage them to stop.
Martin Luther King Jr. had courage because there were people who said he couldn't make it. They also said the same thing to basketball star Michael Jordan, but he made it. I had people tell me I could not fulfill my dreams, and it takes a lot of courage to keep them when someone tells you that you can't make it.
Do you think Max Warburg ever let someone take his courage of living away from him? Although he died, his spirit is still among us all. To have courage, you can be any race or color. You should just believe in yourself as well as others who believe in you.
Brandon, Martin Luther King, Jr. School, 1999
When I was in the fifth grade, my friends made fun of me because I worked with kids that needed my attention because they did not know how to read, spell or sing the alphabet.
On May 24, my autistic friend, Jeffrey, had just found out from his parents that he was going to lose his sight from a disease called glaucoma. Jeffrey wanted to play football before he lost his sight. He had asked ten kids to play football with him, but they refused. I decided that I would play catch with him. I was shunned because I helped someone that they did not consider normal. I would not trade helping Jeffrey for their friendship because I know how much the football game meant to him.
Cathyana, William B. Rogers Middle School, 2009
Courage is a strong word. Courage is a hard thing to have. Courage means a lot of things, but to me, it means to do something that's really strong that no one else would do, but it really matters to you.
While I was in the 2nd grade, there was a little girl who was always alone. She was humiliated all the time because she didn't dress right or her hair wasn't done. She was bullied and it was so sad that she would cry. She lived in a foster home; she didn't live with her mother, but saw her sometimes. Her mom was doing drugs, so that wasn't good for the little girl.
When it was lunchtime, she sat all by herself. She didn't have much to eat. I went over to her and talked to her. When I looked at her, she looked amazed because she felt like she was noticed. I felt so bad for her. I didn't care what other people said when they saw me with her. She was happy because she had me as a friend.
Living a foster home was hard for her; she didn't have much to wear. Everyday she would come to school wearing the same clothes and that was just so sad. So every morning, I would try to fix her hair so she wouldn't get teased and when someone would tease her, I would defend her.
No matter where a person lives, whether in a shelter, foster home, or in a box, no one should tease them at all. They should have respect like everyone else. All they need is a friend. Courage is great, but being courageous is wonderful!