Follow the Yellow Brick Road

The purpose of this Action Project was to find my own voice, and to express what I believe in. We made a podcast that talks about what we believe in and I chose to write about courage. What I learned during this action project was making a podcast. What I found most challenging was telling my story about how I found courage. This was challenging because I never talked about my story. What I am most proud of is how my podcast turned out.

L. Frank Baum. The Cowardly Lion. 1900. Internet: Wikicommons. 17 Jan 2014 . 

Why did the Cowardly lion from the Wizard Of Oz want courage? He wanted courage so he could become the king of the forest, so he went to Emerald City. Followed the Yellow Brick Road in search of the OZ to get his courage. When the Cowardly lion discovered that the OZ did not have the power to give him courage, he realized he had it all along. Just like the Cowardly Lion, I believed that I needed to find a place to get courage. But I had an experience that made me realize, just like the Cowardly Lion that I had courage all along.

I try my best to face my fears and I believe that that makes me stronger. I believe in courage because courage helped me when I needed it most. I believe that we are all to afraid to show that we have courage. I believe that courage can shape me. I believe that courage opens my eyes. I also believe that courage is my biggest fear and that being courageous is scary. But, I believe being courageous allows me to conquer my biggest fears.

I was hiding from my classmates throughout my 3rd and 8th grade. I discovered my courage by facing my fear. I was afraid of going to school because I had an IEP and being put in a room with only 5-10 kids that made me feel like I was a prisoner. Being in special education intimidated me into not showing how much I actually knew. Kids would stare at me like I was a animal, they would ask me “why are you in special ed, you don’t look retarded”? They were right I wasn't, special ed kids aren't retarded. I didn't need to be in special ed, but, I was afraid to tell the teachers I didn't need it. By being courageous and speaking up, I was able to get out of the special ed class and show people how smart I am. I felt liberated . My classmates started looking at me differently.

My fear of not getting into a high school I wanted to go to gave me the courage to speak up. This brought me to where I am now, at GCE. GCE taught me to have courage. I also was afraid to attend GCE because of how small the classrooms are. I knew I had to talk but I was afraid to open up and speak in front of the class everyday. I knew that by going to GCE I would learn to face my fears of speaking to the public. I would also learn how to travel around the city by myself. At the same time, I was afraid that I would be placed in special ed again, but the staff here understands the students and are good at communicating. The staff is pretty awesome. Because I knew that I could not hide at GCE, I found the courage.

Courage is so important to me because it help me face my biggest fear and gave me my greatest gift to attend my high school. I didn't always believe in courage. I didn't even know I had it. I got so much courage from GCE. I have already learned so much and changed as well. Courage will help you with your biggest fear. You don’t have to hide from it, be like the Cowardly Lion and face what you fear so you can get what you want.