The Courage of Children: Boston and Beyond XXXIII

AUDREY DYCHIUCHAY
RONALD RODRIGUEZ, TEACHER
John A. Otis Elementary School, National City, CA
“Would you want to run for treasurer?” my teacher asked as she pulled me
aside. Of course, at that time, I was new to the school in fourth grade, and my
courage had not developed that much yet. But for some strange reason, I felt
this urge to try something new. Trying something new was usually just trying
a new food, but I was running for treasurer.
I hesitated for a second, but then I said, “Yes. I would love to run for treasurer!”
I was surprised I took up an offer that big!
“THOUGH I DIDN’T
WIN THAT YEAR, THE
EXPERIENCE TOOK A
LOT OF COURAGE TO
DO, AND RUNNING FOR
TREASURER MADE ME
COURAGEOUS ENOUGH
TO RUN FOR SECRETARY
THE NEXT YEAR!”
Soon, after school, I told my mom about the experience and what I said to my
teacher. She gasped and congratulated me, saying, “I am so proud of you!”
A few days later, our teacher told the people running for student council to
make posters for the campaign. I worked on mine when I got home from
school. My poster had money bags and said, “Vote Audrey as your treasurer!”
The next day, I stuck my poster on the wall where all the others were, and
I proceeded to give away some paper handouts that said “Vote Audrey for
Treasurer” for my campaign.
A few weeks later, the voting started. I walked into my classroom, shaking
because of the big event, and I went to my chair and talked to my friend who
sat next to me. After talking for a minute, our teacher told everyone, “Take out
your computers, because we are about to start voting.” At that point, I was
trembling and sweating while at the same time saying to myself, I really hope
I win, but also, I am really scared. We then watched all the speeches on a big
digital screen, and I covered my eyes and ears.
When we finished watching the speeches, we moved on to voting. My friend
was kind enough to vote for me because I was his friend. When the principal
announced the results of the voting on the speaker, I was sad to hear that I
didn’t win the spot for treasurer. When I told my mom, she said, “It’s okay if
you didn’t win. At least you tried.” Instead, my friend won, which made me feel
a lot better. Though I didn’t win that year, the experience took a lot of courage
to do, and running for treasurer made me courageous enough to run for
secretary the next year! Unfortunately, I lost again that time, but that made me
gain enough courage to want to run for vice president in the next election.
THE COURAGE OF CHILDREN: BOSTON AND BEYOND
VOLUME XXXIII
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