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Essay On Overcoming Fear
Personal essay about conquering fear
Overcoming fear narrative essay
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It was my first day of highschool, and I was completely terrified. Unlike most of the students at CJ, my friends from grade school did not come with me to high school. I wasn’t scared of the classes or all the homework; I was scared to make new friends and get out of my comfort zone. Over my high school career I changed from someone like Mariam and Laila from A Thousand Splendid Suns, by Hosseini, who watched the world behind their masks, to someone like Siddhartha, from Siddhartha, who was willing to experience the world and Odysseus, from The Odyssey by Homer, who could easily talk to strangers. Over my journey through life, specifically my high school career, I have had a huge change not only physically, but mentally. I have gone from an extremely introverted person to a fusion of …show more content…
She is very extroverted and could almost instantly make friends. I (as a follower) started to model after what she did, and whether I liked it or not, talk to more people. This friendship opened me up to a whole new group of friends, to people I had never really talked to before. I also brought out qualities in her. As she brought out a more social part in me, I brought out a part in her that was more thoughtful and peaceful, almost like Mariam and Laila. In One Thousand Splendid Suns Laila brings Mariam out of her shell after Laila marries Rasheed. Before Laila, Mariam listened to all the men in her life who told her what to do. As her and Laila became friends, Mariam became more social and spoken. The act that proved who Mariam had become was her killing of Rasheed, which showed all that she had become, a strong woman. “And yet she was leaving the world as a woman who had loved and been loved back.”(Hosseini 329) I didn’t prove myself as changed by killing someone, but my change can be seen in my group of friends, happiness, and even in my school
Mariam and Laila face a lot of social injustice yet they do not attempt to challenge the issues because they are told to endure all forms of pain and social injustice. From a very young age, Mariam was told by her mother that all she needed to do was to withstand any pain and suffering, it’s the one skill she needed.” Endure . . . Women like us. We endure. It’s all we have”(17). In addition, Laila also suffered the injustice of society since she was a single mother it was not safe for her to live on her own so she had no choice but to marry Rasheed. The society gave women no choice but to endure and that’s the main reason why Laila and Mariam were unable to take a stand. However, close to the end of the novel Mariam decides to take initiative and fights back. She finally takes action because she is driven by the love she has for Laila and her child since they are the only family she’s had that loved her. So when Rasheed her husband attempts to choke Laila to death, Mariam reflects on how much injustice she has faced and how unjust both her husband and the society have been towards her and other women. At this point, Mariam realizes that she must end her and Laila’s suffering once and for all. So she takes Rasheed’s life. Although Mariam is executed as a form of punishment, she is very successful at taking a stand to end the oppression and injustice. Mariam knew her actions were fatal yet she still did what she knew was right. Furthermore, she sacrificed herself and didn’t regret her action instead she was pleased that “she was leaving the world as a woman who had loved and been loved back. She was leaving it as a friend, a companion, a guardian. A mother” ( 329). Her actions freed Laila and her child from Rasheed’s abuse and helped them build a better life. Thus Mariam was successful and did not want to endure the injustice or see Laila suffer, she did it by
Before my years in high school, I rarely put time and effort into studying and constantly associated with my friends at school; that is until I entered high school. The different competitive atmosphere at high school caused me to suddenly prioritize my studies ahead of everything else and my ambition became greater than ever. I began to interact less with my old friends and become less sociable with those around me. My parents also began to notice this drastic change and encouraged me to once in a while contact my old friends. During the beginning, I contacted my friends about two or three times a week, but the phone calls began to gradually diminish. I began to abandon my previous cheerful, ebullient nature in order to conform to the competitive, tense study environment at high school. As long as I successfully accomplished my goals and was accepted by others, I was willing to alter myself in order to assimilate into the mainstream environment. Through my hard work and perseverance, I was able to reach my goal and receive the acknowledgement of others; however, despite fulfilling all my ambitions, I did not feel any joy or satisfaction within myself. Even though I successfully accomplished my objectives in school, I realized that in return I completely sacrificed my social life. Despite being accepted by others, I began to feel a sense of loneliness and longed to
It is expected that within a span of four years drastic changes can occur to any person. An example of such case is our experience throughout four years of high school or college; it is a time in which each obstacle that we surpass will become an experience that builds character. We have all left our childhood behind, but we have yet to taste the full essence of adulthood. Within these years of being cast astray to find our own paths, it is common for us students to experience regular episodes of anxiety, stress, and crippling self-doubt.
Anxiety ran throughout my entire body the morning before my first class of college began. Not knowing what to expect of my professors, classmates, and campus scared me to death. I knew the comparison to senior year of high school and freshman year of college would be minute, but never did it occur to me how much more effort was need in college until that morning, of course. Effort wasn’t just needed inside of the classroom with homework and studying but also outside of it where we are encouraged to join clubs, get involved and find a job. Had I known the transformation would be so great, I’d have mentally prepared myself properly. It’s easy playing “grown-up” in high school when one doesn’t have to pay expensive tuitions, workout a
Transformation occurs in everyone’s life, whether we accept it or not. When I had to go through an enormous transformation at an early age. I unexpectedly had to move from Miami, Florida to Santa Clarita, California. I was already enrolled in school and expected to be in my seat tomorrow at eight o'clock in the morning. At the time I suffered from extreme anxiety and I relied on others to help me through my day. Even the smallest task like handing in a paper to a teacher was difficult for me. The thought of having to be on my own, not knowing any of my friends or teachers to help me get through the long day, and starting at a brand new school in a brand new state was simply terrifying. I was escorted by the principle into my class. I was seated next the most extroverted girl in the
I remember the time when I had gotten promoted to high school as a 9th grader. That time was so important to me, at that time and age. It was a phase that you usually get over. I was growing up and starting all over again in a different environment with entirely different motives. I had started at the lowest class in the school, once again, as a freshman. I wasn’t a big 8th grader that internally felt more in control due to my age and experience. It was quite odd, just a couple of days before promotion, I was 8th grader, however I had more similarities with a 6th grader. This was me starting from strength to weakness. Through that I figured it out. Life is a process of phases that repeat, and helps a person grow. The famous novelist and blogger
Mariam finally reaches the idea of acceptance when she realizes she defied everyone’s thoughts that she would not amount anything. This mental fortitude plays a large role into the characteristics she displays as a reluctant hero. Someone who did not readily choose to be a hero defines Mariam’s life. She did not choose to take Laila under wing and become a mother to her nor did she chooses to kill Rasheed to save Laila from his grasps. Mariam never chose to any of these things, they all fell into her lap because no one else could handle the pressure of doing it. Although she thought of herself as weak and unable to help anyone, she was the complete opposite. Mariam helped everyone she surrounded herself with and saved most of them by providing them with hope while they provided Mariam with
From start to finish, one could see how much Mariam values Laila, Aziza, and their friendship. The first example is when Mariam vows to help Laila while they are in the hospital for Laila’s unborn child: “I’ll get you seen, Laila jo. I promise” (287). This simple promise is a deep portrayal of Mariam’s desire to help Laila find a doctor and deliver her baby. Additionally, one can see Mariam’s love for Laila when she protects her from Rasheed’s grip of death, “‘Rasheed.’ He looked up. Mariam swung. She hit him across the temple. The blow knocked him off Laila” (348). Rasheed was going to kill Laila, but Mariam steps in and knocks him off of her with a shovel to save her life. Mariam forms a tight-knit bond with Laila, and when Hosseini includes their relationship, one can see how Mariam values Laila enough to kill another man. The author also describes their relationship after Mariam and Laila discuss plans for leaving: “When they do, they’ll find you as guilty as me. Tariq too. I won’t have the two of you living on the run like fugitives.” … “Laila crawled to her and again put her head on Mariam’s lap. She remembered all the afternoons they’d spent together, braiding each other’s hair, Mariam listening patiently to her random thoughts and ordinary stories with an air of gratitude, with the expression of a person to whom a unique and coveted privilege had been extended” (358). The love Mariam has for
I am imperfect, but I try and lead a more engaged life today – Live simple and not simply live, Lead with Spirit Always try to do the right things right and Take time to reboot the soul.
My parents sensed my troubles and we moved. Adjusting to a new high school took time. It was not easy making new friends and I continued to be lost. These incidents weighed heavily on my mind. My anguished heart refused to see beyond my own woes. A recent disturbing incident changed my purview of life.
There have been tons of things that I have learned and been taught in my life, by a number of people such as family, teachers, or even friends on occasion. The things they taught me vary from math and other related subjects to just some truly simple yet meaningful life lessons. However, there is nothing quite as unique, quite as special as a person teaching themselves a life lesson. It really is an amazing accomplishment for a person to teach themselves something. It is not quite as simple as another person teaching them something because it is not just the transferring of information from one person to another. The person instead has to start from scratch and process the information they have in their mind in order to come up with a new thought
I never really thought about where my life was going. I always believed life took me where I wanted to go, I never thought that I was the one who took myself were I wanted to go. Once I entered high school I changed the way I thought. This is why I chose to go to college. I believe that college will give me the keys to unlock the doors of life. This way I can choose for myself where I go instead of someone choosing for me.
As I have reflected on the examined life, intellectually, physically, emotionally, socially and spiritually, over the span of this semester and applied it to our own life, I have noticed a theme that links each of these dimensions together. Life is a journey of self discovery where individuals are constantly trying to come to terms with who they are as a person. Through this journey, individuals can find their calling or vocation in life, discover their potential, know one’s self, and even just make sense of life. Furthermore, I will examine this theme of self discovery in the context of each dimension and apply it to what I have learned over the course of this semester.
My whole life I have lived with a single thought in the back of my mind, that thought haunted me sometimes and made me worry about who I might become as a person in the future. I always wondered what I was going to do with my life even when I was young. With the consistent pressure from my parents to work at a young age and to also keep up with my good grades, I began to develop a lot of stress. Through it all, I realized that enjoying time spending time with my friends and sitting on my latest console gaming all day was going to change.
I often think of Robert Frost’s phrase, “I took the road less traveled by” when brushing against dirt, rocks, or grass on a trail. While following a single stretch of a path, whether that road leads in a curve or in a straight line, I notice a myriad of branches to trails that I normally classify as detours. Is that what Robert Frost means when he says he traveled a road less traveled by others?