Here I will provide sections of my This I Believe Essay that illustrates showing and telling.
Showing:
It was a early Saturday morning. The lights were still too bright for my eyes to adjust. They did not want to open all the way. The crust was still holding them shut. I’m clutching the arms of the plastic white chair that I’m sitting in. I feel nervous. I feel anxious. All I wanted to do was go home. I'm already here though there was no turning back. I stand up and fix my karate uniform. I kick my shoes off and slip my socks into my shoes. I wrap my yellow karate belt around my waist. I look around and I see red belts, blue belts, and even black belts. I feel like I am way out of my league. I am the only yellow belt. I feel like I should not be here. I’m not good enough for this. I’m trying to not cry. It’s hard. The tears are coming down my face but I am doing my best to contain myself. I step onto the mats. The soft red and blue mats were no comfort for the uneasiness I feel. I sit down and waited for the instructor to line up class.
My stomach floats up my throat. The butterflies want to get out. I stand up with everyone else and line up for class. We lined up by rank so of course I was last. I feel unqualified to be here. I was only seven. These people were a lot older than me. They were stronger than me. They were better than me. We started class with a warm up. Easy enough. I can do jumping jack, push ups, squats crunches. The stretching feels good. I can feel myself waking up. My eyes are more open now. This still did not take away the uneasy feeling that I have. Then it came time to work on some kicks. The instructor asked everyone one by one how many kicks they believe that they can do without putting their foot down. One by one everyone gave their answer. 20. 50. 100. 200. 1,000. Of course he asked me last. I didn’t know how many kicks I could do. I have been doing martial arts for maybe a month. The most kicks I have ever done without putting my leg down was 1. I don't know what to say to him. So I guessed. “4” I said. All the kids laughed. Even the instructor had to chuckle. This did not make me feel any more confident in my kicking ability. Now it came time to see if we could reach our goal. I started kicking. 1, 2, 3, 4, 10, 20, 30, 40, 50, 54!. I did 54 kicks before I had to put my leg down. The instructor smiled. He said to me “Now Ryan. You must believe that you can always do better than you think you can.”
Telling:
I am so happy and grateful that I learned at such a young age that I can always do better than I think I can. I truly believe now that every single human being has deep reservoirs of potential locked away just waiting to be released. Steve Bow said it the best. He said “God’s gift to us is more talent and ability than we’ll ever hope to use in this lifetime. Our gift to God is to develop as much of that talent and ability as we can in this lifetime.” My dream is to stretch my potential as far as I can and help others do the very same thing along the way.
Showing:
It was a early Saturday morning. The lights were still too bright for my eyes to adjust. They did not want to open all the way. The crust was still holding them shut. I’m clutching the arms of the plastic white chair that I’m sitting in. I feel nervous. I feel anxious. All I wanted to do was go home. I'm already here though there was no turning back. I stand up and fix my karate uniform. I kick my shoes off and slip my socks into my shoes. I wrap my yellow karate belt around my waist. I look around and I see red belts, blue belts, and even black belts. I feel like I am way out of my league. I am the only yellow belt. I feel like I should not be here. I’m not good enough for this. I’m trying to not cry. It’s hard. The tears are coming down my face but I am doing my best to contain myself. I step onto the mats. The soft red and blue mats were no comfort for the uneasiness I feel. I sit down and waited for the instructor to line up class.
My stomach floats up my throat. The butterflies want to get out. I stand up with everyone else and line up for class. We lined up by rank so of course I was last. I feel unqualified to be here. I was only seven. These people were a lot older than me. They were stronger than me. They were better than me. We started class with a warm up. Easy enough. I can do jumping jack, push ups, squats crunches. The stretching feels good. I can feel myself waking up. My eyes are more open now. This still did not take away the uneasy feeling that I have. Then it came time to work on some kicks. The instructor asked everyone one by one how many kicks they believe that they can do without putting their foot down. One by one everyone gave their answer. 20. 50. 100. 200. 1,000. Of course he asked me last. I didn’t know how many kicks I could do. I have been doing martial arts for maybe a month. The most kicks I have ever done without putting my leg down was 1. I don't know what to say to him. So I guessed. “4” I said. All the kids laughed. Even the instructor had to chuckle. This did not make me feel any more confident in my kicking ability. Now it came time to see if we could reach our goal. I started kicking. 1, 2, 3, 4, 10, 20, 30, 40, 50, 54!. I did 54 kicks before I had to put my leg down. The instructor smiled. He said to me “Now Ryan. You must believe that you can always do better than you think you can.”
Telling:
I am so happy and grateful that I learned at such a young age that I can always do better than I think I can. I truly believe now that every single human being has deep reservoirs of potential locked away just waiting to be released. Steve Bow said it the best. He said “God’s gift to us is more talent and ability than we’ll ever hope to use in this lifetime. Our gift to God is to develop as much of that talent and ability as we can in this lifetime.” My dream is to stretch my potential as far as I can and help others do the very same thing along the way.