Compassion
by Oscar Valle
As
a student I know that school can be challenging and often
times we feel as though we have no one to turn to for help.
For this reason I decided to join the tutoring program at
my high school in order to help students with their work
and show them that they can make it through high school
if they just work hard. When you show compassion to others
it should not be to satisfy your own selfish goals of becoming
morally righteous but to help others who are in need. We
must all show compassion to others, regardless if we receive
praise or not. My greatest reward is seeing a student’s
face light up when they can answer a problem they normally
would have given up on. I enjoy interacting with the students
and helping them with their English homework. The students
I tutor are minority students and many have no aspirations
of going to college. Giving them some understanding of their
class work may give them the confidence they need to graduate
from high school and go to college.
I remember my
freshman year, a very good friend of mine lost her father
and his passing was very difficult for her. This was a big
shock to me as well because she was a really good friend
to me and I did not want to see her so hurt. I did not know
what to say to her at first because I had never experienced
a loss so great. I knew that she would need someone and
I was more than willing to be there for her. I knew the
best thing I could do for her was to listen and talk to
her. It was difficult finding the right things to say to
her but I knew I had to console her because she meant a
lot to me. When she needed someone to talk to I was more
than happy to be there and help her in any way I could.
Never once did I think of helping her to make myself feel
good but rather I saw a friend who needed me and I was glad
I could make her feel better even if it was only for that
moment.
My senior year
I was extremely honored to be named captain of my cross-country
team, but it was not easy for me to get there. My first
year on the team, I was new to running and three miles seemed
like an eternity. With the help and leadership of my teammates
I was able to get through my first year and I was ready
to come back for a second. However my determination exceeded
my physical abilities, because an injury I received in my
knee prevented me from running for the entire season. For
that season all I could do was watch and wait for my time
to come. With the help of my former teammates I trained
hard all summer long, seven days a week. By the time the
season came around, I was in the best shape of my life and
running at a level I never thought I would achieve a year
ago. I was named captain and I knew that I would have a
big responsibility to my coach and my team. We had many
new guys on the team and I had to assume a leadership role
in order to help my team get better. Often times my teammates
would be disappointed with a race but I talked to them and
explained to them that if they worked hard they would improve.
I cannot express how proud I am of my teammates for what
they accomplished this year. Most of my teammates were first
year runners but by the end of the season they looked like
they had been running all their lives. I do not want to
take credit for their achievements but I am glad that I
was a part of it. I feel that being captain of my team made
me grow as a person and gave me a maturity I did not have
before. |
