Courage comes from the Latin word ‘cor’, meaning heart. In this world, there are 8 billion beating hearts; each beating a different feeling, each constantly making decisions.
Courage can be described as the ability to persevere.
“I lost my mom to cancer when I was 17,” James Chang, academic administrative assistant for the MSU English department, said. “I came to this country when I was 18 without speaking one word of English. Ironically, I’m working for the English department now.”
Chang said that courage is not giving up, even when one falls.
“There are a lot of difficult things you will see in life,” Chang said. “Don’t give up, you know, just face it.”
At the age of 47, 28 years after setting foot in the United States for the first time, Chang is pursuing his master’s degree.
For some, courage can be found in the support loved ones give.
“I think it’s who you surround yourself with,” MSU Construction Management student, Boden Thorbe, said, “because those people are going to help you get through whatever you have … going on, and it’s really helped me in my life with high school, and now, college.”
For Thorbe, his parents and friends have been extremely supportive, helping him find courage. Senior in Mechanical Engineering Technology at MSU, Chiofa Onyin, said her instructor, Kevin Hubbard, as well as her family, have been a huge support in her journey.
“He has honestly been … inspiring,” Onyin said. “That’s the best way to put it – just being there as a resource. He is the sole reason I’m still there, honestly.”
Onyin’s father, who is also an engineer, almost quit his career as well. Those are the two primary sources of her courage.
Courage may not just be the ability to decide even when it feels wrong, but to face the disappointment of not knowing.
“I know it feels kind of … embarrassing – not necessarily embarrassing,” Onyin said, “but it feels like … I struggled with disappointment in myself for a while because it feels like everyone knows what they’re doing, or at least has an end goal as to where they’re going. But, it took me a while to realize that not everyone has it figured out, at least not at this date.”
When deciding on her career, Onyin said that she felt that it was the only choice she had.
“So when I look back at the day,” Onyin said, “the day that I made that decision, I wish I could tell my younger self that ‘it might not seem like the right decision right now, but I promise you, you’re gonna enjoy it in a couple years.’”
According to The Exponent, the average person makes about 50 decisions a day. There is no set amount to measure the amount of courage it takes to make each. Neither can it be known the support and perseverance backing it up.
