Melba Beals Research Paper

Melba Pattillo Beals was a warrior on the front lines during the times of the Civil War. Though Melba and her friends apart of the Little Rock 9, never held a gun, and never had to harm anyone, they were still fierce warriors. Melba and her friends fought for the right of a proper education for the African-American population in America by going to an all white school where nobody wanted them. Each day, Melba suffered through attack after attack from the other students because they didn't want her there. As always, Melba kept going, she kept finding strength in herself, and getting it from others around her. Her family, her faith in God, and the strength of an actual soldier, Danny, helped Melba through the tough times going through
Central High School. Though, not in a lifetime could I ever endure the torture Melba had to go through, and I may never face those kinds of challenges, I have faced a few difficult times in my life.
Where I live is quite a challenge. Every day people here are getting shot, killed, or rushed to the hospital due to something horrible happening, and it is difficult to do anything without an adult with you because they fear that we may get hurt as well. Other challenges are how timid I can be. With my friends, I am an outgoing person, but when it comes to anything else, I'm very bashful. Doing day to day things can be difficult, suppose I'm in a store and someone is in my way, usually I go a different route than say anything to them. When I'm with my mom, everything is different. Usually she tells them that we need to get through, or she makes me do it because she knows how much I don't like doing it, and she wants me to get over that. My mother is one of the main places I get my strength from. If I wanted to do something, my mom makes me do it. Usually, my mother helps me do anything that I need, such as doing homework or even if I need a poster, she comes with me to the store to make sure I get the one I need. While I have my mother, Melba had many more sources of strength than I do. Melba had many people and things on her side. I do have more that I will not mention, but my biggest source of strength is definitely my
mother. I haven't faced many difficult times in my life. My hardest challenge yet was my first day of middle school. My family and I moved back into the city early summer. When the time came for people to start preparing for school, my cousin, who was going into the seventh grade, kept hyping everything up, making me extremely nervous that I wouldn’t be able to find my classes or that the teachers were certainly going to be rude and yell all the time. The first day of school, I was forced to miss, due to the fact my sister and I were enrolled too late and our schedules were not ready. The second day of school came and I had my schedule, but I didn't want to go. I was terrified. I thought that everyone was going to make fun of me for being late (which looking back now, seems very irrational), or that everyone already had friends and no one would be my friend at all. As we were driving to school, I repeatedly told my mother that I didn’t want to go, and that no one would like me. My mother was escorting my cousin, sister, and me into the school telling that everything was going to be fine and I would be alright. I said goodbye to my sister as two eighth graders came to show her the way to her class, and I sat nervously on a chair wanting to vomit. My mom left a few minutes prior telling me goodbye and that I should go try to make some friends. As I sat, I anticipated who would come down to take me to class, 'What if they think I'm dumb, What if they don't like me, What if...'. The next thing I knew two people were in the main office, waiting to show me to class. A boy and a girl. I got up and followed them, and as we stepped out they introduced themselves as Zoey and Rashad. I told them my name and we were off. We walked quickly through the halls, time to time Zoey or Rashad would point to a door and tell me bluntly what class it held. As we walked up the many flights of stairs, they told me the name of my homeroom teacher, Mrs. Ey. I nodded and walked quickly upstairs. When I walked into the classroom and had all of my locker and books sorted, I sat down at my seat looking around at the small room I was in. I was feeling so anxious, I remembered what my mom said about being confident, and sat up a little straighter, greeting the person next to me. That day I made two friends, though I'm not really still friends with those two, they did help me find the friends I have now, and I'm grateful. Thanks to my mom, I got through my first day of a new school. Still, everyday my mother gives me strength to do what I like to do and not completely care what others think. I really do need my mother. Everyone is a warrior, though they may not realize it, a warrior is growing in everyone. Melba had to force her inner warrior out, while others may never truly need their warrior. Everyone has a source of strength, even if we don’t know it, even if someone feels all alone in this world, they aren't. Someone out there loves you, makes you feel better about yourself, and makes you want to face the wind and take down those walls! Some have greater challenges than others, some never have challenges, some are always facing a new challenge. Whatever lies ahead, just know, you are a warrior, you will win. We are all warriors, no matter how hard the challenge.