It Looked Like Courage

I found myself sitting in a waiting room while my young granddaughter worked with a reading tutor. Through the wall, I could hear her carefully practicing vowel sounds. In the next room, a high school student wrestled with trigonometry.

I sat in one of the old wooden chairs, next to a bookshelf full of classical literature. Looking around, I noticed an antique typewriter and 1900s telephone.

It struck me that anyone waiting in this room was surrounded by the past, while listening to students prepare for the future.

Just then, another study door opened, and a boy stepped out, deep in conversation with his tutor about whether to stay in Advanced Placement calculus.

The tutor knew his teacher, the course demands, and the reality that the student could handle it— but it might cost him his grade point average, and perhaps even a college scholarship.

“Getting a ‘C’ looks worse on your transcript than taking a non-AP calculus and getting an ‘A,’” the tutor advised.

This young man’s decision would shape his future, but soon enough, it would become part of his past—another step in his journey.

We all carry such steps with us. Even if they give us nothing else, those steps give us wisdom.

So what did the student decide—an easier ‘A’ or a hard-earned ‘C’?

He chose the hard road. “I think it’s better to struggle and get stronger,” he said.

Watching him choose the harder path—something I’m not sure I would have done—I realized his tomorrow was already taking shape, and it looked like courage.