Lesson 1 Life Is Experience
When Were You Bravest?
What does it mean to be brave?
There is no single definition, but everyone is brave in their own way.
Here are three young people sharing their bravest moments in life.
Jason
One evening, I went to a convenience store to buy some snacks.
No one was at the counter, so I thought the clerk was working in the back.
The telephone started ringing, but no one came to answer it.
I felt something was wrong.
I looked over the counter and saw the clerk lying on the floor.
I immediately called 911 and explained the situation.
The operator asked me to perform CPR on the clerk until the paramedics arrived.
I was scared, but I remembered learning CPR at school.
I checked for a pulse on his neck.
Fortunately, he was still breathing.
Then I started to push down on his chest, hoping that I was doing it right.
A few minutes later, the paramedics rushed in and took over the situation.
Luckily, the clerk regained consciousness.
After putting the clerk in the ambulance, the paramedics said
“Thank you for being brave. You did a wonderful job.”
It felt great to help save someone’s life!
Olivia
I dreamed of being an Olympic track and field athlete.
My room was full of medals and awards from races I had competed in.
During the national 100-meter championship race, however, my Olympic dreams came to a sudden end.
I was about to take the lead in the race when I suddenly felt a pain in my knee.
I fell to the ground and had to be carried off the track.
At first, I didn’t think much of the injury.
I thought I would get better soon.
But the test results from the hospital were not hopeful.
The doctors said my knee injury would prevent me from running again.
Every night, I had flashbacks of my injury.
I could not watch sports anymore because it was just too painful.
So I shut out everything related to sports from my life.
Two years passed and I was still trying to get used to my ordinary high school life without sports.
Then one day, I came across an interesting university major called sports medicine.
It deals with the treatment and prevention of sports injuries.
A light bulb went on in my head.
This was my chance to stop running away from my problems and fears.
So I made up my mind and applied to this major.
Today, thanks to my brave decision, I am studying to be a star on the sidelines instead of on the playing field.
Yuna
Ever since I was young, I have admired great public speakers.
I hoped to inspire and move audiences like them someday.
But every time I had a chance to speak in front of people, I would get scared.
I didn’t want to make a fool of myself.
This fear kept me behind the stage rather than on it.
That’s why I never entered the annual speech contest at my school.
I really wanted to, but I just didn’t have enough courage.
Last year, however, was my final chance before graduating high school.
When I saw the poster on the class board,
my mind began to fill with thoughts of the school speech contest.
I heard a voice growing louder in my head, saying “Go for it!”
I decided to sign up for the contest.
To make a long story short, I did it.
I delivered my speech to the entire school.
How did I do?
Honestly, I don’t remember much from the contest because I was so nervous.
But my act of courage taught me a valuable lesson:
I can do anything that I put my mind to.
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