2002 First Place Winning Essay

TRUE COURAGE
by
Kacie Wills

Courage is defined as the quality of being brave or of having valor. In my opinion, the courage to brave danger is only one type of courage. True courage is the courage to face a danger, confront a fear, solve a problem, or realize a dream, not for one's own glory, but out of love for one's fellow men. True courage originates from true love and is the greatest kind of courage.

It is not hard to find true courage. It is all around us, especially this year. The policemen and firemen, who risked and lost their lives in the World Trade Center, showed true courage. They bravely ran into the towers as everyone else was running out. They may have been afraid, but they had the courage to stand up to their fears and do their job. They willingly gave their lives for their fellow men and thus, showed true courage.

True courage was shown by the men and women aboard the plane that crashed in Pennsylvania. Rather than allowing the plane to hit its target and kill more people, they decided to make a final stand. This last stand cost them all their lives, but saved the lives of countless men and women. They showed true courage by sacrificing themselves to save their fellow men.

The men and women who are policemen and firemen in our own cities display true courage when they put their lives on the line everyday. Without the courageous men and women of the police force, crime would go unchecked and the world wouldn't be a safe place to live in. Without the brave men and women of the fire department, who's work it is to face deadly flames in order to save lives, thousands of people would die in fires. These heroes display true courage, facing countless dangers in order to make the world safe for others.

True courage is exemplified by the humility of these men and women. When these remarkable people are referred to as heroes, they merely smile and say, "I was just doing my job." This goes for the people in the plane as well. I'm sure that, if they could be asked why they did what they did, they would respond in the same way: that they were just doing their job for their country. They could all stand there and gloat about how hard it all was and what a great thing they did, but they don't. In my book, that is what shows true courage.

True courage is shown in the lives of these men and women by their willingness to put themselves in danger to save others. True courage is shown in another way, by all people who face a fear in order to help their fellow men. For instance, any young person, who's fear was of being "unpopular", but who stood up for a kid who was constantly made fun of and considered a "nerd," showed true courage. He showed courage because he faced his fear of losing his "social status" and helped someone in need.

This type of true courage is also shown when someone faces his fear of going to war. When doing this, he puts his country's needs before his own. He bravely confronts his fear and courageously faces death to help his country. War is a true test of courage and, fortunately, many people are willing to take it.

The facing of a fear is often one of the most difficult types of true courage to show) but it is a great one. Many people face their fears every day for the good of others. These people are all truly courageous.

Another type of true courage is the courage to find the solution to a problem affecting others. Louis Pasteur showed this courage when he successfully tried his rabies vaccination on a young boy in 1885. This courage was shown by Edward J enner in 1796 when he discovered a vaccine for small pox. The courage to find a solution was shown by Abraham Lincoln when he had the courage to sign the Emancipation Proclamation, thus freeing the slaves. These are just a few of the hundreds of examples of this kind of true courage. Anyone, who has ever had the courage to bring forth a solution for the good of others, showed true courage.

The last type of true courage is the courage to realize a dream that will change things for the good of others. Our country's forefathers, when they dreamed of a country that was free, and not a colony of England, showed this courage. Their dream was realized when they signed the Declaration of Independence and eventually won the Revolutionary War. These men had the courage to fight to realize the dream of a world that would, not only be a better place for the men and women living in it at that time, but for all those who would live there in the future.

Martin Luther King Jr. showed the courage to do whatever it takes to realize a dream that would change things for his fellow men. He spoke out about his dream of all people being treated equally. He fought hard against segregation. By working to realize his dream, he changed things for all African Americans.

The courage to realize a dream is a very important kind of true courage. If men didn't have this courage, our country might be a very different place. We might live in a country without freedom, had our country's forefathers not had the courage to see their dream realized. The United States might be a country separated by racism, had Martin Luther King Jr. not had the courage to make his dream reality. These are just two of the many examples of people who have shaped our country by their courage to realize their dreams.

All those who are brave enough to do something to help their fellow men show true courage. Braving danger or facing a fear to help someone in need is two ways of displaying true courage. Solving a problem that affects people or turning a dream, which will change things for others, into reality are two other ways. True courage is the greatest way of showing love for one's fellow men.

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