I love the Olympics. I think competition is beautiful.
There’s this gold medal that I’ve grown up wanting, and it’s lead me to try many different sports. I got further with some than others; I even tried fencing. The first day of my trial week, I found out the person assigned to teach me the basics had in fact gotten a full ride scholarship to Harvard. We parried for half an hour, he scored a thousand times, but I clawed out a handful of plays. It was a ton of fun for the both of us. He was good, but not out of reach. I trained diligently for a few months when an olympic competitor made a guest appearance. We watched some of her favorite fencing duals and she gave us a break down on strengths and weaknesses of defensive and offensive plays. Then I had the chance to try my foil against hers. I appreciate fencing now more than ever. The innovation of sport and the performance of two people pushing each other past personal bests.
A small medal in recognition of excellence, absolutely miniscule to the accomplishment.
Have you ever heard of the Congressional Gold Medal? How about it’s equivalent, the Presidential Medal of Freedom?
“…awarded to an individual who performs an outstanding deed or act of service to the security, prosperity, and national interest of the United States…”
“An especially meritorious contribution to the security or national interests of the United States, world peace, cultural or other significant public or private endeavors.”
Obama has given 16 already.
I had this teacher who I will always remember in middle school. She allowed me to give speeches to the class in order to raise money for a local teen shelter. She invited me to speak if we had extra time and when we raised about $1,200 between all 6 of her classes, my speeches raised us from 5th to 2nd most donations. There was a little ceremony with the staff in giving that money to the shelter spokesman and the whole class would clap. I remember Ms. Leschak stopping all of them and asking me to stand up. She said she expected a lot from me and she’ll be cheering for the great things I’ll do in the future. It meant a lot to me as those were troubled years.
I’ve got an idea.
