By Anna Keaveny
Teacher: Sean Keller, Jefferson School
Award: Honorable Mention, Fourth Grade Essay
Last summer, during a rock climbing camp, I felt nervous. I had never gone rock climbing before. I really wanted to do well in the camp. To me, the rock walls put up in the gym looked huge. I really needed some encouragement, and got just the right amount of it when the instructor gave us a talk before we got started.
“This may be a first experience for some of you guys,” she told me and the other kids there. “Don’t feel the need to do all of the walls. When I first started rock climbing, it was out of my comfort zone.” As she said this, she placed a small hula hoop on the floor and stepped into it. “This hula hoop represents my comfort zone. My regular, totally, comfortable zone. It’s the place where I’d put stuff like brushing my teeth, or going to bed.” She placed another hula hoop on the ground. It was slightly bigger than the first, and she placed it around the smaller one.
“This is the step that some of you will be taking. This hula hoop represents my trying new things zone. Maybe for me there would be some things like playing the violin. I have never actually played a violin, so I’m not totally comfortable with doing that.”
A new hula hoop went up. It was biggest, so it went around both hoops. “This hoop represents my totally crazy zone. Things like skydiving, or swimming in an area that is infested with sharks, would go here. Things I would never think of doing.” She paused and smiles at us. “Now, who thinks that they’re ready to try some rock climbing?” she asked.
“I am!” and “Me!” were the replies. I was really nervous. When I started climbing up one of the easy walls, I felt more comfortable about myself.
I was going pretty smooth, and after a few tries, I almost got to the top. We only had a few more minutes until we had lunch, so I set a goal to get to the top before we had to take a break. On my next try, I made it! My older brother, who was taking the camp with me, was at the top of the wall, and I wanted to impress him. As I tried to clamber over the wall, that was when I really started getting nervous. To help calm myself, I repeated the instructor’s words in my head. Luckily, my brother was still at the top, so he helped me over. Sometimes it’s nice to have someone to help you out.
After camp had ended, I felt more confident than ever. I had reached my goal. I had taken a new step. A step out of my comfort zone.