2025 MWCC Essays

Winners of the 2024 Max Warburg Courage Curriculum Essay Contest 2024

Pum Viche

Courage means to be brave, to dare to overcome, to push yourself and confront all challenges when they arise.

I have learned how to have the courage to sell things to people who need them. My family asked me to help them earn more money by selling drinks at the factory. At first, I didn’t dare to sell things because I was scared and lacked courage. My grandmother tried to teach me how to sell to other people, but I was too afraid. But then I faced my fear, overcame my scared thoughts, and decided to try selling drinks and water at a factory.

There were laborers who travelled from a long distance to go to work at the factory near my home. They bought my drinks at their workplace when they were tired. There was even a rich person at the factory who bought my drinks. One time there were so many people who bought my drinks before their work started, that I ran out of drinks to sell. I was able to make some money which made me very happy and inspired me to want to keep selling. I brought my courage back again and again to the factory until school started for a new year and I had to stop selling. I went back to school with my new courage from overcoming my fears.

If I hadn’t faced my fear and done this selling at the factory, I would not feel the victory that I feel today. I am so happy that I dared to do this because I learned how to be successful.

Dy Rita

By overcoming my fears, I can now always maintain courage in myself. Even when I’ve been very scared of something for a long time, I have learned that I can be brave and succeed for what I wish to do, no matter how big or small the problems are. In this way I have learned to appreciate so much about myself.

One day when I had gone to buy something for my mom, I saw a girl who had badly cut her foot. She was seriously bleeding, so I brought her to my house. I helped her clean her wound and went to buy some medicine for her. I was always scared of darkness, but because of this girl I decided to go to buy medicines for her at night and then take her home to her parents. On the way to that girl’s house there were plenty of jungles and high trees and it was so dark, but I told myself to keep going on no matter what. I knew I had to bring that girl back to her house. On the way there were lots of dogs that barked at us so hard, but I told myself not to be scared, that they are only dogs. I was so happy with my courage that I was able to bring the injured girl home.

When I had to head back to my own house, all around me there was only darkness and quiet.  I was so scared, but I kept moving forward all by myself. I told myself I must keep going because my mom was waiting for me at home. I picked up a stick for hitting the dogs that wanted to bite me. I scared away the dangerous dogs along the way home with that stick. I was so brave and able to reach my home where my mom was waiting for me.

Here is another story about my courage in the darkness. One day before heading to bed my aunt asked me to go and buy some cough medicine for her, so she could sleep. It was very late already, about 10:35pm, but the medicines are sold from the pharmacist’s home in a nearby village, so it was possible for me to buy them. I thought about saying no to my aunt’s request because I was not confident in the dark, but I decided to go get the medicine for her. When I was on the way to the pharmacist’s home, I saw a shadow of a person in front of me. I was so scared, but I told myself I must keep going no matter what. I kept going and in the end I bought that medicine for my aunt and arrived home safely.

Being courageous means that I can do all the things necessary for me to achieve success. I now know that I will always keep courage within me forever. I am appreciative that I can do whatever I like with my courage, and I can help others in necessary times too.