~Harry Lavoie, Class of 2023

How Courage changed me for the better

Courage is not the absence of fear, but the triumph over it

~Nelson Mandela

Courage is a skill that is constantly being portrayed in each and every human being. Debatably the most monumental thing that has ever happened to me was becoming a Fenn boy, and that was all built around courage. Whilst becoming a Fenn boy I had to use every ounce of courage ever imagined as I was truly changing my life and identity as a person.

          Just a few seconds ahead of me was Monument street. It was just me and my mother as we pulled up to Fenn for my first ever day at the new school. I wanted nothing more than to be back home in Stow, and as the emotions built up, so did the tears.

         One step, a step that I didn’t have the choice to take or to not take. One step that would change the course of my whole life. One step that I had been dreading for months. Yet, right there, with a lot of hesitation, I took that step. It was just a simple step. The step was out of my mom’s large car where I felt safe and comforted, and into a large community that I hoped I could be welcomed into. I stepped out of the car and scanned the scene in front of me. There were large white as snow buildings, green grass, kids frolicking across the beautiful campus, and then there was me standing there, confused at where to go, angered at my parents for dumping me into this new place, and curious what effect that step had just made on the course of my life. My cousin and best friend Matthew was also starting at Fenn that year and stood beside me with the same look of confusion. I reflected on my days back at Center School in Stow. That was my home. I knew everyone, I was in my safe place, and I was nothing but happy with it.

           Without courage, I wouldn’t have taken that step, I would have sat in the safety of my mothers car that day and done nothing but cry and cry and cry, but that is not what happened. That day I had the courage to take that step, that step into a new world, a new school, a new home. God damnit am I happy I took that step

          Courage can be portrayed in so many different forms and sizes. For me, this step took one big, massive, enormous dose of courage.