By Tina Huynh (3 July 2012)
I was told of an experience that I have never encountered before. This may not apply to many young people who have been brought up in Australia from a young age, like myself. The story was that my mother’s friend is not confident enough to regularly leave the house because of her lack of English. While raising her children, she has yet to go out and educate herself like other immigrant women.
This recount raised a thought in me. It is the simple things, like how to communicate in English and make oneself be understood that defines whether we go out into the public, or simply withdraw ourselves. In saying this, confidence then, means a lot in how we live our daily lives.
An education means that we can work, interact with others, share knowledge, as well as be a good citizen. I believe though, that for many young Australians, we hardly reflect on our education and it’s importance.
Not only just education, or one’s ability to communicate in a certain language or to do something, but confidence overall may just push us in the right direction. As Eleanor Roosevelt said, you must look at fear in the face to really overcome it and gain confidence, strength and courage.
Roosevelt said:
“You gain strength, courage and confidence by every experience in which you really stop to look fear in the face. You are able to say to yourself, ‘I have lived through this horror. I can take the next thing that comes along.’ You must do the thing you think you cannot do.”
Our choices then, may really be based on how confident we are with ourselves, our skills and knowledge. Roosevelt said some very encouraging thoughts, and whether they apply to my mother’s friend, or to ourselves, confidence is in the end, key.
