In 2004, Nicholas was a sixth-grade student at the Josiah Quincy Upper School and a Max Warburg Fellow. The views expressed are solely his own. We are honored to share his essay with you. Please do not copy, republish or repost the following content without express written permission from The Max Warburg Courage Curriculum.
Courage means to stand up for what you believe in and do what is right even if you’re scared. There are many situations and misfortunes in which me or a family member of mine has shown courage. I’m choosing a particular situation about myself, which started when I was 9 years old in the third grade. I was courageous because I joined the Boston Ballet even though everyone made fun of me.
One day, I went to school and saw adults walking into all the third grade classes. When they walked into my class, they asked us to do ballet moves, which weren’t that complicated. They then asked me if I liked to dance. I responded, “YES.” A couple of days later, they sent me a letter in the mail asking if I wanted to join a ballet program called City Dance.
I really liked to dance, so I told them “yes.” I was one of three people out of my whole school to be chosen to join City Dance. And I was the only boy. I danced for half a year with City Dance and for the following year, I was given a scholarship to attend the Boston Ballet. I was in the Boys Intensive 1 class. It was a lot of work because it was 3 days out of the week for 3 hours, a total of 9 hours a week.
When my dad found out, he did not want to talk to me because he let his cultural differences and biases decide that this was not for me. I felt sad and mad at the same time because he didn’t encourage me to do what I loved. My grandmother, brother, and stepfather were teasing me because I liked ballet. I also felt sad at that time too. My mom gave me lots of encouragement to do what I believed in and to do what I loved. While I was at the studio, I saw a classmate that was in a higher grade who went to my school, and she saw me too! She gasped and then laughed. She told everyone at school.
Everyone at school started to call me names that I probably shouldn’t repeat. People would say that ballet is for girls. I was ostracized from my group at school. I went home crying that day. My mom told me that it didn’t matter what anyone thought and I should do what I believed in and she would support me, whatever my decision was. So the next day, my classmates called me names and I told them, “So, just because I like to dance doesn’t mean you can call me names!”
I continued ballet even though people still didn’t accept me, or what I did. I’m glad about my choice. I performed in the “Nutcracker” at the Wang Theater. This was a real treat because I met a lot of kids from different parts of the city. I danced with the characters Fritz and Claire in the party scene. I was backstage and had the chance to see how it really works. I also danced in other exciting performances. My mother could not afford the program, so I am no longer part of the Boston Ballet. I’m now in a dance class with members of the Senegal Ballet.
I believe that courage is about making decisions that may be difficult and sometimes dangerous. I am so happy that I listened to my inner self and chose to dance because I had a wonderful once-in-a-lifetime experience, in spite of what people said and judged about me.
