The Courage of Children: Boston and Beyond XXX

Zaina Alatassi
Sara Coyle, Teacher
Beverly Hills Academy, Beverly Hills, MI
Courage in My Life National Essay Contest Winner
To me showing courage is like being a superhero and standing up for what
you believe. The word means something different to everyone.
When I was in fourth grade, we were learning about the main religions, and
that day we were learning about Islam. The teacher asked if anyone in the class
was Muslim, and only I raised my hand. When I looked around the classroom
all eyes were on me, which I was not used to. I guess they didn’t know I was
Muslim since I only had been at that school for a year. Everyone focused their
eyes back to the teacher, except this one boy who I had never really talked to.
He looked me straight in the eye and didn’t say anything. He then asked me
if I had a bomb in my backpack and called me a terrorist, while also telling
me to go back to where I came from. He also said some other terrible words.
I wouldn’t say I was the shy type of a girl, but I came from an all Islamic school
before that, so I never really heard people calling each other things like that.
I was still really young and didn’t know what to do in situations like that, so
I looked back at him and made my way back to my seat. I had this nervous
feeling in me. I felt my heart drop all the way down to my stomach and felt
like the whole room was spinning. When I looked at my teacher he looked
frightened or startled and looked at the boy, but still did not say anything.
The boy continued to stand by his seat, with a kind of proud smile. All of a
sudden I saw a girl a little older than me stand up from her seat, and she had
an upset look on her face. I could tell she was going to burst with anger. I was
still not comfortable with the people in my class, so I just sank down in my
seat. She looked him straight in the eyes and said, “Just because she is Muslim
does not mean she is any different than you, and not all Muslims are bad;
that’s just what the media shows.” I was wondering to myself why the boy was
just standing there blankly. He eventually took a seat. The teacher politely
asked the girl to sit down and continue doing her work. I honestly have never
felt more relieved. After the class ended I went to the girl and thanked her for
what she did for me, then I went on to ask her why she did that for me. She
said she had gone through the same thing because she is also a minority. I
went on with my day not really thinking much about it. I was not planning on
saying anything to my parents because I didn’t want them to be upset by what
he said, and it was a tough topic to talk about.
The Courage of Children: Boston and Beyond
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