Kelly Jie, RDF International School

The potential of a human being is unlimited. Everyone needs the courage to do something that seems impossible for them. Courage has always been a part of my growth: It has enabled me to overcome my fears and become stronger.

A time I showed courage was when I climbed a bridge, defeated the fear of not going forward and successfully reached the end. Looking back now, I really admire myself for that.

I still remember when we went to a training place to do a lot of fun activities, of which most impressed me was climbing the net bridge. We needed to climb from a net wall to the net bridge and then cross the bridge to reach the end.

Rita took the lead of the first group and climbed to the front. She gripped the rope with both hands, and her foot reached into the square mesh of the rope net. She quickly climbed onto the bridge. Kneeling, she grabbed the rope with both hands and quickly moved forward. Watching her doing it so well, I couldn’t help but think: Climbing the net bridge is such a simple thing, isn’t it?

Although I have some fear of heights, I prepared myself and was full of confidence. Then it was our turn. I went straight to the starting point.

Climbing to the top of the wall, I turned over to the bridge. I looked down from the bridge: Oh my god, it’s so high, it’s going to be life-threatening if I fall down even though there’s a net around us. My fear increased extensively, my hand could not help but trembling constantly, and my legs swayed as I climbed to the bridge. At this moment, the coach shouted from the back, “Bravely climb forward. Don’t block the students behind you! Don’t look below!”

I looked around; a lot of students behind me couldn’t move because of me. I was determined not to be afraid of anything. No matter how high the altitude or severe the pain, I quickly climbed to the end. All the students stood at the end of the line waiting for me, and they all cheered for my courage. “Hey, nice job, Kelly! Well done!” they said.

I felt I was brave because I defeated my fear regardless of the pain and defeated the weakness in my heart. I learned a lot and gained a lot. People must not give up easily through the most difficult times. Stop running from problems and continue to strive; there will be unexpected surprises. You just need to face them head-on. It won’t be easy. There is no person in the world capable of flawlessly handling every punch thrown at them. Stop thinking you’re not ready.

Stop focusing on what you don’t want to happen. Focus on what you do want to happen. Positive thinking is at the forefront of every great success story.