Blue Belt: Courage

Time to complete: 30 days

How can you demonstrate courage? By pushing yourself outside of your comfort zone and trying something new. By not giving up when you’re faced with a challenge. By asking for help when you’re stuck. By reaching out and helping others, even when it can be scary. By trying the impossible. Courage is the power you have to push yourself past challenges and become a better, stronger person.

To earn your Blue Belt, you must demonstrate courage in four ways:

1. Try something that you consider to be impossible. (Be safe, don't do anything that involves risking your health.)


2. Do one thing you know you should do but have always been afraid to do.


3. Pick a problem or challenge in your life and ask two people—one student and one adult—to help you solve it. Use their advice to try and solve the problem.


4. Create an Inspiration Folder by picking five things—could be pictures, letters, medals, anything—that mean a lot to you and you think could inspire you during challenging times. Keep your inspiration folder in a safe place, and look at it whenever you need inspiration.

Here are examples of what two students did to earn their Blue Belts:

Examples

Example 1: Mary
Mary did the following to earn her Blue Belt:

• Try something you consider impossible
  Mary wrote a letter to the governor of her state and asked him to visit her school and talk to the students about government.


• Do something you know you should do
  Mary’s cousin had always been mean to her. She called him and told him how she felt and how she would like him to treat her.


• Pick a problem and ask two people to help you
  Mary struggled in math class. She asked her teacher and one of her friends if they would help her, and she met with them once a week.


• Inspiration Folder
  Mary put a copy of her the program from her grandfather's funeral, a picture of her best friend Megan, a 95% she received on a really hard math test, a brochure from a college she wanted to attend (University of Miami), and a copy of the inspiring poem, IF.


Example 2: Tyrone
Tyrone did the following to earn his Blue Belt:

• Try something you consider impossible
  Tyrone's mother had always wanted to go on the Oprah Winfrey show, so he wrote a letter to the show, asking them if they would give his mom tickets to the show.


• Do something you know you should do
  Tyrone told his friends that they needed to stop picking on a kid on their bus.


• Pick a problem and ask two people to help you
  Tyrone was worried about paying the activity fee for the track team. He talked to his track coach and principal about it and they told him the school could help him. He also asked a friend of his for help.


• Inspiration Folder
  Tyrone put a photo of LeBron James, a letter from his father, a track medal, a picture of his family, and the album cover from his favorite album.