Free by Salem

Free

By Salem Habtom

Resilience can appear in many different forms; it can be seen in the person who cries themselves through a difficult process but still reaches the end successfully with that usual comment of ‘oh it wasn’t so bad’ at the end, to the person who never sheds a tear as they put on a brave exterior. Both examples involve resilience.

At one point that was me. My reputation in primary school was that I was known for not crying. It’s a very strange thing to be known for when I think about it now. In primary school, where kids are constantly in tears over bruised knees or fights, I became an anomaly! Did this mean I was more resilient than the others? No! The exterior is not always the best indicator of resilience. It is the strength that comes from within that makes one resilient and we are all resilient - no matter what way we present our strength to the outside world.

Spring 2018 was an indicator in my life of the way that I can deal with fear and how my resilience can be adapted in real world situations. April was the date of my first GCSE exam in English Spoken Language. This consisted of a speech that had to be presented in front of the whole class. The day came around quicker than I expected leaving me feeling under-prepared. That was just the nerves trying to get the better of me, as I had been working my whole school life up until this point.

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