The Courage of Children: Boston and Beyond XXX

Nara Duarte
Barbara Walsh-Smith, Teacher
Saint Agatha School
People have various ways of showing courage, and there are many meanings
of courage. My definition of courage is to be brave. A lot of people have
been faced with either being picked on or bullied - maybe for differences
or disabilities. Every day, people get criticized for their differences. I have
personally dealt with bullying, and it is never easy.
I have a cataract. Cataracts are most common with elderly people, but I have
had one since I was a baby. To sum it up, the cataract blurs the vision in my
left eye. It is quite rare for babies and kids to have this condition. Since the
vision in my left eye is affected, I have to wear glasses with bifocals. Bifocals
are just different types of eyeglass lenses. I need glasses for my left eye and
my right eye.
Since I have a cataract, I have had a couple of surgeries on my eye. I can only
remember having one surgery, and it’s not a happy memory. I could not eat
at all before or after the surgery. I also had to see with my left eye only while I
wore a patch on my good eye. The doctors had me do this to strengthen the
vision in my eye with the cataract. I could not do much since I could barely
see. This happened during the beginning of summer, so all I did was lie
around. I couldn’t even go swimming, which is my favorite sport.
Later that summer, I was at a pond with my family for a cookout. My two
cousins and I were swimming in the water. We decided to get out of the water
and go get some cheeseburgers which smelled delicious as they cooked on
the grill. As we were walking to the picnic area, we saw these two boys who
just showed up out of nowhere. They were both around my age at the time.
We were all getting along for a while until one of the boys decided to ask me
separately, “What’s wrong with your eyes?” Some people might think he was
just being curious, but I could tell by his tone that he was going to pick on me.
He proceeded to call me, “Googly eyes.”
I got tired of it and finally said, “What’s wrong with your eyes?” Then I just
walked off with my cousins. After that day, I realized that people don’t see me
the way I see myself. So now I try to be as courageous as I can be. I try to help
people be positive or even give people compliments. Today, I try to be more
proud that I’m different from most kids. If I can be brave or courageous, you
should be too. Be brave and show your courage.
The Courage of Children: Boston and Beyond
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