The Risks in Life by Abigail

The Risks in Life by Abigail - July 2016 Scholarship Essay

I’ve learned many valuable lessons from my teachers, but the one that stood out to me the most was from my English teacher. He was my english teacher for one semester in 10th grade, and both semesters in 11th grade. The lesson? Take risks. That sounds simple and cliché, I know, but his speech about taking risks has had a profound effect on me. Since then, I have vowed to take more risks in life, not concerned about the outcome. Whether it be asking someone to dance, volunteering first for a speech, or confessing something to someone, and not knowing what they’ll say. People are scared to try new things because we, as humans, fear the unknown. People are afraid to take risks because it might leave them embarrassed, sad, in an awkward situation, or even disappointed. But why do we expect the worst? Is this only so if we are rejected, it doesn’t hurt as bad? I think people should always take a chance, not worrying about the outcome. What if the outcome is beautiful? I’ll never forget this quote I heard about taking risks, which I still tell people today.
“You know, sometimes all you need is twenty seconds of insane courage. Just literally twenty seconds of just embarrassing bravery. And I promise you, something great will come of it.” - Benjamin Mee, We Bought a Zoo
I love this quote because I believe it’s absolutely true. All you need is 20 seconds of life to take that risk, or chance, and hope for the best. My teacher always encouraged us to take risks. Of course, from an English class perspective, he encouraged us to volunteer first for our orals. But he took the lesson deeper than that, and encouraged us to take risks outside of the classroom. He also told us a quote from one of his students years ago. I don’t remember the quote word for word, nor did he ever tell us the student’s name, but I will still try to loosely quote it. “Those who do not take risks spend the rest of their lives thinking about what could’ve happened or what could’ve been. Those who take risks only think, “what’s for dinner?”’ - Anonymous
I thought it was a funny yet inspirational quote. Nobody wants to spend the rest of their life pondering over something that they didn’t take the chance for. So the question is, what’s the worst that can happen?