By Pam Cohen Jane and Sarah were shopping in the city and Jane loved a pair of shoes that Sarah hated. Jane was scared to buy them in front of Sarah. She put a hold on them and asked her mom to buy them later. A few days after Sarah and Jane were looking at…
By Morris Shalom In life sometimes we face fears. These fears might make us weaker or stronger depending on how we take on the challenges. For example, sometimes in school a teacher may ask a question in class but a student might be afraid to answer. The student can face this challenge in two different…
By Leah Linfield I started high school knowing exactly two people: my brother and my sister. Other than that I had no friends and I didn’t know the name of a single classmate. Transitioning to a brand new school and brand new state was daunting to say the least. Without a say in the matter…
By Linda Guindi Sometimes adults discourage children and make them afraid to speak up in public situations. For instance, sometimes I am afraid to answer questions in class because I am afraid that I might be wrong. But I overcame this fear and learned to overcome failure. This opened up many doors for me and…
By Linda Banbahji Fear can cause many people to lose several things. On a personal lever fear causes me to be too scared to raise my hand and answer questions in class because I might get it wrong. As a result I lose points in my grade because I don’t really participate in class….
By Sarah Torgueman When I study for a test at home, I get almost all of the answers right. In school when I take the test because I am anxious and nervous my head goes blank. My face morphs to a radiant red tomato color and my neck begins to look swollen, my body begins…
By Oriel Abadie When I was younger I was a shy kid. I would only talk to my friends that I knew from when I was little. I was always scared to talk to new kids because I thought they wouldn’t’ like me. Every time I would see new kids I wouldn’t go talk to…
By Lily Betesh I have a friend in school who is always shy because she is afraid of what people would think of her. She almost always knows the right answer but will never raise her hand because she doesn’t want anyone to laugh at her. Because she is afraid, she is missing out on…
By Miriam Zenilman When I was in third grade, I was diagnosed with a severe nut allergy. A month later, I had an allergic reaction and was sent to the nearest hospital. A couple of hours later, I was once again healthy. But, this traumatic experience had a huge impact on me. I carried…
By Evelyn Tawil Everyone wants acceptance. When you are afraid, you lose opportunities you would be able to take if you weren’t afraid. When you take a look at teens, you can pinpoint at least one fear – fear of not being accepted. Nobody wants to be rejected, alone, or not included. You could be…
By Sara Shtaynberger The trick in life is to be confident and not scared of taking risks. If you see a new student in your class, don’t just ignore her. Walk up to her and introduce yourself. You never know; that new student might just be your new best friend. This story was published in…
By Fatima Sharaby Sarah was so excited to go on a shopping spree with her mom. Her friends were telling her where to go and what to buy. When she came to school the next week with a turtleneck sweater, her friends were making fun of her and told her to take it off. Sara…
By Sonny Setton This past summer, I went to work at a camp. However, I am naturally a quiet and shy person. I normally have a hard time meeting new people. This past summer was actually very fun because of all the people I met. I became close with my co-counselor who happened to be…
By Barbara Schwartzbard It was the summer going into 10th grade and I couldn’t decide what I wanted to do for the summer. Most of my friends were going to the same camp that I have been going to for many years. However, one of my friends was going to Israel for the summer to…
By Rachel Nussbaum Without risks, life would be boring. In order to make your life more exciting, you need to be daring and take risks. If you are constantly scared to take risks, you will never be accustomed to new things. If you constantly eat the same food, wear the same clothes and have the…
By Natalie Mizrahi Fear is an unpleasant emotion caused by the belief that someone or something is dangerous, likely to cause pain or threat. Fear is responsible for holding people back. The only thing we have to fear is fear itself (Franklin D. Roosevelt.) With this attitude, we can accomplish anything we put our minds…
By Vicky Levy This past summer, I went to a new camp and I didn’t know anyone there except for one friend. We wanted to meet people and develop new friendships but I was afraid to approach people. When I finally did, I made one of my best friends today. If I wouldn’t have built…
By Elliot Levy Many times in life, you may come to an opportunity where you can choose to either take a risk or be conservative. Numerous people may decide to be conservative and miss out on what they could have gotten. Whenever people do something and fail, they can learn from their mistakes. They can…
By Abraham Kassin There was a boy who didn’t have a place to go to for lunch. I already made plans with my friends. I kept thinking to myself: the right thing to do would be to bring him with my friends. Although this was obvious, there was still a chance that my friends…
By Rachel Isayev One time in chemistry class, the teacher asked a question. It was an advanced question that was very difficult to answer. Therefore, very few raised hands to answer the question and those who did got it wrong. I was pretty sure I knew that answer, but my fear took control and I…
By Ruthie Gindi There was once a girl who left all of her friends for the summer to go to a sleep away camp. She risked losing all her friends to try to make new friends in sleep away camp. At first, she had a hard time fitting in. She felt uncomfortable around those girls….
By Stephanie Dweck When one doesn’t take risks, one loses out on so many different aspects of life. They become so afraid and paranoid that they forget to live life. They miss out on everything that life has to offer. Fear created followers instead of leaders. We pass through life without becoming our own…
By Bert Dweck One day, I decided to run a marathon and tried to be the winner. I never ran more than 2 miles in my life. I started training every day for 45 minutes and it was going fine. Then I ran a 10 mile marathon after training 45 minutes a day for…
By Maurice Djmal A few boys were going out to eat at a non-kosher restaurant. One boy was scared to ask them to eat at a kosher restaurant instead. So, he went along with them and didn’t say anything. A month later, he was with the same friends again and they were going to a…
By Joelle Cohen Once upon a time, I was on the debate team. It was fun and everyone thought I would win. Above all, I was passionate about the debate’s subject being it was animal testing. When the debate started, I was surprised at the intelligence of the kids on the other team. They showed…
By Sondra Bukobza There once was a basketball player who always played offense because that’s what he played since he was little. One day, the coach asked him to play defense because the starting defense was injured. He took the risk and played defense instead of the usual offense. He continued playing defense and, three…
By Elliot Beyda My goal as a high school student is to reach my potential as a student. I know that I can do much better in school. But, one of the reasons I am not doing as well as I should is because I am lazy. One of the goals I set for myself…
By Allan Bailey I am in a candy shop. There are hundreds of candies to choose from. If I buy the same candy every time, I won’t be able to experience a new flavor combination. That would be the safe way. However, if I have a mindset to take a risk and buy a new…
By Sabrina Abrahim Have you ever known an answer to a questions in class but was too afraid to raise your hand? This is a common fear among students around the world. And it’s affecting different aspects of life along the way. A shy girl, let’s call her Samantha, wouldn’t dare to raise her…
By Max Setton We all aspire to accomplish goals in our lives. It’s up to us to decide whether those goals will be accomplished. My mother always repeats the same thing to me, “Whether you say you can or you can’t, you right either way.” This is a very powerful line because it’s telling…
By Raymond Cohen When Bill was in 9th grade his whole life changed. He was that class clown who always fooled around in elementary school. It was his first year in high school and he wanted to change his act and start doing well in school. His goal was to get into honors and…
By Nancy Tobias I went to my new friend’s’ house for the first time. I was really excited and anxious. We decided to go to the park. We went with her whole family. In the park, I fell and really hurt my foot. I didn’t want to cry in front of the whole family, I…
By Leonore Tawil This year, I tried out for the softball team. I tried out because I thought it would be fun to be on a team. When I tried out, I was not able to catch or throw well. A few times the ball hit me in the face because I couldn’t catch. I…
By Esther Haddad When I see people out for lunch they usually all eat the same kind of food. One day I saw a girl who was on a diet, and she couldn’t eat the food that her friends were eating. So she brought her own home lunch. Her friends didn’t let her sit with…
By Daniella Babaee During freshman year I tried out for the volleyball team. I thought that I had a good chance of joining the team, even though a lot of people tried out. To my misfortune I didn’t even get first cut. Discouraged, I went home and thought I would never try out again. My…
By Yafit Kamkhehji Probably the most common fear in life is meeting new people and finding true friends. Fear causes people to feel weak, to feel that they’re not capable of doing things because people are better than they are. You lose the mental strength to try new things to take risks that will…
By Ness Mugrabi One day I was going to raise my hand in class. I was scared that people were going to make fun of me if got it wrong. I was thinking for a while if I should raise my hand or not. So, I took a stand and raised my hand and…
By Renee Hadef As we all know blackberry played too safe. They had the chance to take a risk but they didn’t. The iPhone started to take over their business. Now, blackberry is drowning. In this case many of us are the blackberry. We like to play safe. We are too scared to get out…
By Korina Kafif As you grow older, you continue to develop into your comfortable self. Your comfort zone might not be loud and proud. Doing anything out of your comfort zone such as giving your own opinion or expressing your clothing style, might get you nervous. In the end there will be someone that appreciated…
By Michelle Harari There is no such thing as being fearless. Fears chase you down, waiting for you at every corner. However, it is your decision of whether or not you want to shake fear’s hand as you turn that corner, or if you continue waking straight, avoiding fear at all costs. This is a…