Fear:
- an unpleasant emotion caused by the belief that someone or something is dangerous, likely to cause pain or a threat.
- be afraid of (someone or something) as likely to be dangerous, painful, or threatening.
When I was 6, my brother and I had youth football practice together. Even though we hated each other, we did everything together. We even shared rooms (which will be important later).
One day, we were in line to do a drill when suddenly, my brother collapsed. He was crying and screaming at the top of his lungs. Three yellowjackets stung him in different spots. My parents took us straight home after that, planning to pluck the stingers out with tweezers. As my brother screamed out in pain, my 6-year-old brain saw my strong big brother being reduced to nothing by mere insects, which scared me to death. That was the moment when I became afraid of bees.
Fear sucks. If it didn’t, Oxford Languages wouldn’t say it is an “unpleasant” emotion. Fear is necessary, however. Besides fear being necessary for survival, it also has an underlying benefit. It shows us who we are. Sure, someone’s sign can tell you if they are a manipulating liar because they were born between August 23 to September 22, but I think there is a better way to stare into someone’s soul. What we fear is who we are, and what we don’t fear are things that make us strong. Everyone is afraid of something. No one is fearless. We have small fears like I have, and we have fears that would change our life if it happens.
One day, we were in line to do a drill when suddenly, my brother collapsed. He was crying and screaming at the top of his lungs. Three yellowjackets stung him in different spots. My parents took us straight home after that, planning to pluck the stingers out with tweezers. As my brother screamed out in pain, my 6-year-old brain saw my strong big brother being reduced to nothing by mere insects, which scared me to death. That was the moment when I became afraid of bees.
Fear sucks. If it didn’t, Oxford Languages wouldn’t say it is an “unpleasant” emotion. Fear is necessary, however. Besides fear being necessary for survival, it also has an underlying benefit. It shows us who we are. Sure, someone’s sign can tell you if they are a manipulating liar because they were born between August 23 to September 22, but I think there is a better way to stare into someone’s soul. What we fear is who we are, and what we don’t fear are things that make us strong. Everyone is afraid of something. No one is fearless. We have small fears like I have, and we have fears that would change our life if it happens.
I walked around the school looking for fears. Fears of people that also give a glimpse of who they are. I asked the students of Brooks what their biggest fear was and why. Some were harmless while others were more serious. Either way, these fears show us who people are and what kind of person they might be. I want you to look at these stories from your fellow students and think about what that says about them as a person. Some have chosen to be anonymous, but think of a person you know who might say that. Get to know Brooks better.
Anonymous: My biggest fear probably falls under the abandonment category. My dad has this thing where he’ll go on giant rants about random a** s****, and sometimes it could be about people, sometimes it can be about me, and sometimes it can be about other things, but by the end of it he’ll just drop me off at home, and then he’ll go off and fall off the face of the earth for like, 3 days, and when he’ll come back he’ll apologize and do it all over again. So, I have this thing with other people cause I feel like, you know, once I get close to someone they’re just gonna be annoyed, and then go away, and then come back, and then yeah.
Jayshawn Peters: Honestly, snakes 1, the Ocean 2. The thing with the ocean is you don’t know what’s in the ocean. You don’t know what is lurking below you. And have you ever gone into the ocean and looked down? It’s a void. It's scary. To wrap your head around it is insane. And snakes because they seem alienish to me, they don’t seem like they should belong on the earth. The thing is, they slither. They don’t walk, they don’t crawl, they slither. Things that slither are just, eww. But snakes in particular can be deadly. Snakes have venom, they have poison, they can wrap around your arm and break it, all that type of stuff. It’s crazy to me. Snakes are my biggest animal fear, the ocean is my biggest nature fear.
Brandon Brewer: Failure. It sucks and you don’t want to have that feeling in your body.
Lawrence Nalls III: Dying alone. It’s just kinda messed up to be there at the end of your life and realize that you have nobody in your corner.
Coach Franklin Miller (Track and Field): The unknown, stuff that we don’t know. There is no proof that there are aliens, but what if there was? If an alien walked in this room right now, it would freak you out, right? It’s the unknown man, stuff that happens that you don’t know.
Anonymous: Losing my mother, because I was the youngest kid, who do I turn to for advice? My sisters don’t know how to be there, because it was just me and my mom. Who do you look to if you have no one to talk to? You can't talk to your friends because you're afraid of them telling someone else. So who do you talk to when you have nobody?
Anonymous: My biggest fear probably falls under the abandonment category. My dad has this thing where he’ll go on giant rants about random a** s****, and sometimes it could be about people, sometimes it can be about me, and sometimes it can be about other things, but by the end of it he’ll just drop me off at home, and then he’ll go off and fall off the face of the earth for like, 3 days, and when he’ll come back he’ll apologize and do it all over again. So, I have this thing with other people cause I feel like, you know, once I get close to someone they’re just gonna be annoyed, and then go away, and then come back, and then yeah.
Jayshawn Peters: Honestly, snakes 1, the Ocean 2. The thing with the ocean is you don’t know what’s in the ocean. You don’t know what is lurking below you. And have you ever gone into the ocean and looked down? It’s a void. It's scary. To wrap your head around it is insane. And snakes because they seem alienish to me, they don’t seem like they should belong on the earth. The thing is, they slither. They don’t walk, they don’t crawl, they slither. Things that slither are just, eww. But snakes in particular can be deadly. Snakes have venom, they have poison, they can wrap around your arm and break it, all that type of stuff. It’s crazy to me. Snakes are my biggest animal fear, the ocean is my biggest nature fear.
Brandon Brewer: Failure. It sucks and you don’t want to have that feeling in your body.
Lawrence Nalls III: Dying alone. It’s just kinda messed up to be there at the end of your life and realize that you have nobody in your corner.
Coach Franklin Miller (Track and Field): The unknown, stuff that we don’t know. There is no proof that there are aliens, but what if there was? If an alien walked in this room right now, it would freak you out, right? It’s the unknown man, stuff that happens that you don’t know.
Anonymous: Losing my mother, because I was the youngest kid, who do I turn to for advice? My sisters don’t know how to be there, because it was just me and my mom. Who do you look to if you have no one to talk to? You can't talk to your friends because you're afraid of them telling someone else. So who do you talk to when you have nobody?
