HEROES: Y11 Winner

An anonymous winner in Year 11, a thank you to their heroic best friend in school who helped them through the tumultuous period of Year 10.

15 Year Old Hero

The world fell apart at my grasp. I was disillusioned. My life was beginning to tear apart. My happiness faltered, my confidence in tatters. Who saved me?

Jaya.

'Jaya?' you ask. How can your friend be your hero?

Well, I believe a friend can save your life. Therefore, they can be a hero. Jaya is my hero.

Year ten. Ah, that godforsaken year: my acne was flaring, my hormones wavering about like they were doing a PE bleep test, my life changing. Being a teenager was fine - chaotic, for sure, but fine... Until year ten. Year ten was like trying to write with your non-dominant hand. Year ten was like biting into ice cream. Year ten was like buying food and then dropping it on the floor.

Let's just say year ten was not my year.

I was fighting a lot of emotions at the start of year ten, trying to cope with an ever-changing environment and myself, really. I felt incredibly isolated most of the time. Imagine sitting at a bus stop on a wet dreary day and then then a car comes speeding past, drenching you and your Air-Force-Ones that you begged your parents to get you for Christmas. The feeling of that was basically how I felt most days.

Then my hero came along.

My hero was of the 5'0 variety. She didn’t rescue me from a burning building; she didn’t get my cat down from a tree; and she definitely didn’t defeat Thanos and take the Infinity Stones.

She did, however, save me from continuing to walk down a very cold, miserable path.

It may not seem like much, but the daily chats, the walks home, the inside jokes - all of that was heroic to me. The polarising effects that life had on me were no match for the kindness that Jaya showed to me. My hurt and frustration was nothing against the support Jaya was for me.

After all, being 14 can be hard, as being a teenager generally is. But it can be made just that bit better with a friend by your side.

As life seems to pass us by nowadays, we seem to lose sight of what matters and who matters. Does that celebrity that went to Dubai for 'work purposes' in a pandemic really inspire you? Or is it that 15 year old you go to school with everyday, who constantly influences your behaviour, that is the true hero of your story?

I guess heroes come in various sizes. Mine came in a relatively short bundle, in the form of a best friend.

I am forever thankful for you, Jaya.