A Courageous Life

A Courageous Life

Sharon Nakken

Kaplan University

A Courageous Life

Courage means many things to many people. Fear and frustration somehow becomes this giant monster. It stands there in front of you. It looms over you. Those with true courage stay and face this monster, while all others turn and run. You see, being courageous doesn’t mean you aren’t afraid. It means you absolutely are afraid, but you face this monster anyway. Witnessing someone who is showing courage is awe inspiring, but to be present and witness a child demonstrating courage is all together something else. It is something bigger. Something so inspiring, it cannot help but change you somewhere deep inside. A small boy named Forrest James Smith Crain is very courageous.

Forrest was born with some learning disabilities. He tried so hard in school, but just could not keep up with the rest of the class. Ultimately, he was diagnosed with Asperger Syndrome. Asperger’s is a form of Autism. Throughout his grammar school years, he was put in special-education classes called RSP for math and English. Of course, he was always very self-conscious about it. He knew he was different from the other children.

Forrest would come home from school every day and spend so much time trying to do his homework. His mom would spend most of her time trying to help him. She tried to find ways to explain his homework to him in hopes that his brain could process it a little easier. She hired tutors, she searched the internet, and she volunteered daily at his school so she could help him there.

Forrest had one goal in grammar school. He wanted to overcome this learning disability and get out of RSP. Unfortunately, that did not happen. He had to continue these special-education classes as he entered middle school. He made a new goal to get out of RSP in middle school. That did not happen either.

High school was the worst time in Forrest’s life. He was so far behind by now, it didn’t...