NOT ALL HEROES WEAR CAPES – Bridie Griffith, Year 7, The Geelong College – First Prize Winner of the Secondary section of the Humans in Geelong “Discover your Inner Journalist’ student writing competition.
If you were to open up your newspaper, what would you see? Most likely, the front page would be about some sort of celebrity who has made some sort of mistake. The cover stories rarely talk about the important things that we want to see; no one cares about which celebrities are dating, or how much a sporting star is making. Newspapers and magazines have very altruistic intentions; they only care about their ratings. They will do anything for their pages to be turned. We should be reading about what is relative to our everyday lives or true achievements of good people. A story about a flashy superstar who made a small donation is not as admirable as one about an everyday person who has done a good deed without expecting anything back.
No matter what position you are in, you always have that one person that you admire and look up to. Whether this person is from your family, a friend or a complete stranger you can always look to them for inspiration or help. Your idea of a hero may be very different to mine. When I hear the word hero, I do not think of someone with superpowers and a cape, I do not think of my favourite celebrity or sports star. My mind wanders to everyday people and someone who does not do anything for recognition or money. I think of my generous, loving and strong grandmother.
People like my grandmother do good deeds without expecting any sort of payment or applause. Knowing that they have done something kind and helpful is all that matters to her. What is more important to her is that the person she has helped is OK. She is extremely compassionate and selfless. She always is there to help others, even if they are strangers. This is what makes her so special; her ability to put others ahead of herself without a moment’s thought.
Her beautiful personality really shines through when you see what she does for a charity called Cottage by the Sea. Although she does not work for them, she does donate much of her time towards their cause. Cottage by the Sea is a non-government, non-profit registered charity that provides children with a secure and healthy environment. Their vision is that children deserve a happy and safe childhood. My grandma knits handmade goods such as beanies, scarves, mittens and bed socks for the children. Donations of food, money and clothing are sent to their camps, the children take these gifts home to their families, sometimes they take extra to provide for their siblings. As she has said to me, it is ongoing but very rewarding.
These are the type of people that the world needs, people that are caring, compassionate and kind. It is important that we surround ourselves with these sort of personalities; it can affect our everyday lives in ways we do not realise. These are the sorts of heroes that you do not expect, but they end up shining bright like stars. Not all heroes come with incredible super powers, not all heroes wear capes.
Story written by Bridie Griffith, Bridie won a $100 JB-HiFi Waurn Ponds Voucher from Waurn Ponds. 2017 saw 100 entries, we look forward to holding this writing competition again in Term 3 of 2018. Photo: Bridie’s Grandmother.
HuG 