From Apprehensive to Confidence by Neena

From Apprehensive to Confidence by Neena - October 2021 Scholarship Essay

Opening a book is one of the greatest experiences a bookworm can feel in life. The feeling you get to completely close something you spent weeks and maybe even months reading is one of the most fulfilling things a person can feel, me being one of them. What makes a reader want to read thousands of words is left up to interpretation, but for me, it’s the characters. As an aspiring filmmaker and character creator myself, I can always appreciate when an author puts so much love and attention into a single side character. Attack on Titan, an extremely popular manga series from Japan, is no exception; each character is well thought out and they continue to be interesting after 34 different volumes. One of the characters stuck out to me specifically, at first he was nothing more than a timid and unconfident intellect but the story morphed him into one of the most powerful in the series. Armin Arlert from Attack on Titan is one of my favorite characters and continues to make an impact on my life to this day. He inspires me to be confident in myself and to never give up on what I believe is right no matter how much people try to bring me down.
At first, Armin wasn’t even my favorite character, he was uninteresting and just seemed like a usual intelligent best friend type of person, a side character. In books and on TV, there is always a trend when it comes to friend groups of 3, and most of the time this is never broken. Trios usually consist of the main character, an intelligent friend, and the brawn, some good examples being Luke, Leia, and Han from Star Wars; and Harry, Ron, and Hermione from Harry Potter. With the trio in Attack on Titan, it seemed like a normal trio stereotype, Eren being the main character, Mikasa being the brawn, and Armin being the brain. This, originally, made these characters uninteresting, but Armin seemed to be the first to break from this mold. In the story, Eren gains the power to turn into a titan, this breaks the government in half as some believe he can be used as a weapon for good while others believe he should be executed. The trio gets stuck in a sticky situation where the government wants to kill all 3 of them with a cannon to protect the city. Mikasa and Eren leave it to Armin to figure out how to get out, at first he is unsure but eventually rallies the troops enough to consider what they have to say. From then on he never second-guessed himself and continues to be as confident as he can in his decisions. I have taken this to heart and have in turn become more confident in myself by advocating for my ideas in the best ways I possibly can and thinking that idea through to perfection.
Almost like a switch was flipped, Armin became my favorite character right then and there. His “I am a Soldier!” speech still affects the characters as the books go on, flashbacks even happen to that event when Armin needs a pep talk in some situations. Armin believes that defeating the titans is one of the only ways to protect the city, but he hates killing innocent people in the process since later, the threat turns into people instead of the giants. His beliefs drive him and I admire that to no end. He continues to strive for what he believes is right, even as he watches his friends die and has to turn his back on his oldest friend. I take these beliefs and apply them to real life as I strive to become better and fight for what I believe is right. I am a part of the student council in my school and have made multiple film PSA’s to help make society better. I believe in climate change, to combat this I recycle bottles and anything else I can recycle; it’s not much but it helps. Armin has taught me that even if the road is hard and no matter how small your changes may be, you can still make a difference for what is right, and I wholeheartedly agree that we all should follow these ideals.
Armin is probably one of the most complex and hard-to-read characters in Attack on Titan, his ideals and views are very noble and he almost died on multiple occasions fighting for what he believes is right. Being as smart as he is, he needed to grow more confidence in himself, and throughout the series, he became what he always wanted to be, a person who is confident in themselves and not afraid to make mistakes. Being one of my favorite characters, Armin has constantly proved to me that he can be a valuable member of the team and will continue to be an inspiration to readers for years to come as a result of his resolve.