The Courage of Children: Boston and Beyond XXX

Nirvan Shrestha
Kathleen McGonigle, Teacher
Thomas A. Edison School
Many people are born differently. I was born with eczema. I had severe dry
and itchy skin. I always had to put cream on my hands, legs, neck, and face. I
also had to take medicine every day. Sleeping at night was the worst. At night
I didn’t even sleep. All I did was itch, itch, and itch. My mom tried helping
me as much as she could. When I woke up, I was bleeding through my shirt,
bleeding through my pants. I was bleeding everywhere.
During my daycare, I tried hiding all my “ugliness.” I was so focused on hiding
all my eczema that I wasn’t doing well in school. I was afraid that I would get
judged by my peers, and I was right, I was losing some of my friends. My eyes
and face were red and swollen. Every day I was scared to go to daycare.
During my first few weeks of first grade, I was terrified. I made up random
excuses to my dad about school. I was doing badly in academics. Lots of
people made fun of me. I had some friends. I still wasn’t welcomed enough.
It was a Monday, and school just ended. My dad enrolled me in a basketball
class. It was for only 45 minutes, Monday and Wednesday. This was the first
class. We warmed up and did some shooting drills. After a while, we started
doing some push ups. When I was doing my push-ups, I saw my coach look at
my hands with disgust. I pretended not to see. For the rest of the class, I was
trying to hide the ugly tears coming down my face. When I came home, I was
despondent. I didn’t know that adults thought I was weird.
In the middle of fourth grade, I met this kid who also had eczema. He
was fearless enough to show me his eczema. I started to feel like I was like
everyone else. I showed my friends my eczema, my heart pounding like it was
going to fall out. I felt like jumping into a pit of emptiness. Instead, they said,
“Things happen. You should feel special that you are born with this. Later in
the future, it will go away.” That was the time I showed courage.
I was born with very itchy skin. I was bleeding through my clothes. I was scared
of being judged during school, and I was hiding this ugly terror. This may
seem like a lot, but I am fortunate. Many people are born way worse than me.
Every day I share my eczema with others. It makes me feel unique and special.
Being courageous also made me realize that people go through ever harder
things than me, and lots of people don’t have as many opportunities as others.
The Courage of Children: Boston and Beyond
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