Gabe's Essay

Gabriel Campbell

Mr. Salsich

English B

April 7^th 2009

                                                She came, She saw, She conquered;

                                                            An Essay on Courage

                        Courage comes in many different forms. It’s as it can be molded and used and recycled (polysyndeton). For me, courage means rising from your sadness. This form of courage has not only been present in my life, but in my mother’s.

            Courage has many meanings, but to me its meaning is conquering your sadness. Depression is one of the hardest emotions to overcome because it can consume you so quickly. To emerge (FAST word) from something that makes you feel lesser then others takes a lot of courage. Also, depression causes many people to commit suicide, so it takes real courage to not take the easy way out. In addition, Anne Sexton wrote, “getting a transfusion from the fire, picking the scabs off your heart” it was as if she was saying courage comes from within. You need to face your sadness and “pick the scabs” that it left. For all this to occur, you need to have the courage deep inside your soul. Finally, courage leads to greater things. When you conquer depression, it induces a sense of pride. For example, when Sexton wrote, “when death opens up the door […] you’ll stride out” to say that once you grow old and you have conquered this depression, you will finally be at peace with like and will be proud to leave. Overall, the real meaning of courage to me is being able to  overcome your sadness rather then take the “easy way out”.

            The one person who has consistently proved to be courageous is my mom. Firstly, my mom has always had a “rocky” relationship with her family. She grew up in a family of 15 and her mom and a few of her brothers and sisters always made her feel awful for no reason. Despite this, she managed to ignore them and realize that she is a great person. In addition, my mom has always been courageous when my sisters and I leave for long periods of time. While this may not sound like a big deal, it is for my mom, considering she is a caring person who frets (FAST) being without her children for five minutes (loose sentence). Even still, she rises from her sadness because she knows she’ll see us again. Finally, she is courageous because she used to be a nurse. Everyday she encountered bloody victims who had taken the wrong turn in life and were about to pay the toll with their lives. To come in day after day to see these horrible things is a great example of courage. Overall, time and time again my mom has stared sadness in the face and simply looked past it.

            Courage is a magnificent force. It is so small, but it has such a big impact (antithesis). Although everyone has his or her own meaning, mine is being able to defeat your sadness. My mom has had several great example of this form of courage.