The Nature of Courage

This has nothing to do with school. This has to do with being human. Today I saw an incredible act of bravery. There's a senior in my chorus class. I've only ever spoken to him maybe once. Recently he has missed school because his brother was in a horrible car wreck. I didn't know much about it, only that the brother was in the ICU and it was serious. But today, the senior came into our chorus class. The teacher stopped our rehearsal to let him speak. The senior began to speak hesitantly, his voice tortured by emotion. He told us that his brother had moved his finger and woken up briefly from his coma. As he spoke, he became choked up, and even cried. The senior stays at the hospital from early in the morning to past midnight, watching over his brother and keeping him company. He said he had come in to put to rest some of the rumors circulating and to let everyone know that he was supposed to make a full recovery. His friends got up and embraced him in solidarity. The rest of us sat in silence, not knowing how to respond appropriately.

I was touched by this. The fact that he was unashamed of showing such deep emotion and just his situation moved me to tears. Fate has dealt him this awful hand, and he has risen to face it with something akin to bravery. Bravery is the only word for it. Even though the weight on his shoulders is immense, he has refused to be crushed. He was so courageous, facing people and talking about his brother. And he is only a high school kid. We are too young to know such sorrow. It was clear that it was no longer a football player standing before us, he was a young man. He was both. We all are. It is only when it is needed that we must put forth our shields of courage. That is the only thing that can make life bearable sometimes. Tragedy is thrust upon us and all we can do is weather its harsh blows. As is often the case, the only thing left to be said can be presented in the form of quotes from that tome of wisdom Harry Potter:

"We must try not to sink beneath our anguish... but battle on."

- J.K. Rowling, Harry Potter and the Half-Blood Prince

"It was, he thought, the difference between being dragged into the arena to face a battle to the death and walking into the arena with your head held high. Some people, perhaps, would say that there was little to choose between the two ways, but Dumbledore knew- and so do I, thought Harry, with a rush of fierce pride, and so did my parents - that there was all the difference in the world."

- J.K. Rowling, Harry Potter and the Half-Blood Prince