Self-confidence can be defined as "a feeling of trust in one's abilities, qualities and judgment."
So, there are two ways for a high school freshman (me) to look at life: through the prism of self-confidence or through the prism of a lack of self-confidence. Let's examine the latter first and use some examples important to me: baseball and girls.
Playing baseball, the game I love, on the sandlot, Little League and in middle school, I developed some good defensive skills, catching and throwing. Where I am deficient is in the batter's box. Why? I am afraid of the inside fastball. Why? I might get hit and it would hurt. I know from personal experience.
In the past year, I was intimidated by girls. It didn't used to be that way when I was younger. But, now things have changed. I am afraid to initiate conversation with girls. Why? They might laugh at or ignore me. I'd be humiliated. Why? I am not what they want. There are better.
These arguments can be rebutted. It's important that I don't let fear control my behavior. I need to confront my fears and challenge myself to get what I want.
In baseball, let's make the pitcher with the inside fastball fear me. Let's rip a line drive right back at him. Make him pitch me low and away.
Let's look at human nature. Young people, both boys and girls, at fourteen years of age, are susceptible to the same anxieties as they come of age. Many have difficulties with the opposite sex. As boys like me are scared of girls, many girls are equally nervous about boys. Are they pretty enough to attract boys? How do they compare with other girls? Are they self-conscious about their rising femininity? Do they suffer from a lack of self-esteem?
Thus, thinking all girls are cool and comfortable in social situations is dumb. So, the best way for me to act is to be fearless. Go for the gusto. If a girl doesn't appreciate me, so what? "There are plenty of fish in the sea."
Sunday, February 23, 2020
Sunday, February 16, 2020
Rodolpho
When I moved to Brazil, I wanted to be sort of busy. Not too busy. Just enough so I had something to do most days. The easiest thing was to teach English, similar to what Natalia Gedanke (my former Portuguese teacher) did in New York.
I mostly offered private English classes with only one student, the best way to learn another language. But in order to earn more money, I did contract to work for English language schools, teaching groups of students.
In one such situation, I agreed, along with many other English teachers (mostly Brazilians) to do a weekend immersion held at a hotel located on a farm, something common in Brazil. The students, employees at large international corporations, were supposed to speak only English while there. Yeah, sure.
I arrived at the hotel late at night and discovered I would share a room with two total strangers (other teachers), one of whom was already asleep. The school provided me with a lot of written material (but no verbal instructions) I was supposed to use during the classes they assigned me the following day.
As this was my first time working for the school, I was very nervous. I called Cristina who tried to calm me down. I calmed down, but then she couldn't sleep. Sorry!
It turned out I had nothing to worry about. My first class, with only two advanced English students, couldn't have been better. There was one man and one woman who were colleagues at their company.
The man was Rodolpho. His English was very good and the three of us had a wonderful conversation class (which I love doing), ignoring the printed material I was given. Also, he kept flirting with his female classmate, suggesting she should marry him. She politely declined. This first experience allowed me to relax for the remainder of the weekend.
One evening, there was a carioca at the hotel. Rodolpho had a good singing voice and did a nice version of Frank Sinatra's My Way. Afterwards, he asked me what "regrets" (I've had a few, but then again, too few to mention) meant.
A year later, I ran into Rodolpho again at another immersion. This time, he was my only student for a class. Instead of what was planned by others, he asked me to help him draft (in good American English) an email he needed to send to his boss in the USA. He was very appreciative.
Rodolpho was an unforgettable character.
I mostly offered private English classes with only one student, the best way to learn another language. But in order to earn more money, I did contract to work for English language schools, teaching groups of students.
In one such situation, I agreed, along with many other English teachers (mostly Brazilians) to do a weekend immersion held at a hotel located on a farm, something common in Brazil. The students, employees at large international corporations, were supposed to speak only English while there. Yeah, sure.
I arrived at the hotel late at night and discovered I would share a room with two total strangers (other teachers), one of whom was already asleep. The school provided me with a lot of written material (but no verbal instructions) I was supposed to use during the classes they assigned me the following day.
As this was my first time working for the school, I was very nervous. I called Cristina who tried to calm me down. I calmed down, but then she couldn't sleep. Sorry!
It turned out I had nothing to worry about. My first class, with only two advanced English students, couldn't have been better. There was one man and one woman who were colleagues at their company.
The man was Rodolpho. His English was very good and the three of us had a wonderful conversation class (which I love doing), ignoring the printed material I was given. Also, he kept flirting with his female classmate, suggesting she should marry him. She politely declined. This first experience allowed me to relax for the remainder of the weekend.
One evening, there was a carioca at the hotel. Rodolpho had a good singing voice and did a nice version of Frank Sinatra's My Way. Afterwards, he asked me what "regrets" (I've had a few, but then again, too few to mention) meant.
A year later, I ran into Rodolpho again at another immersion. This time, he was my only student for a class. Instead of what was planned by others, he asked me to help him draft (in good American English) an email he needed to send to his boss in the USA. He was very appreciative.
Rodolpho was an unforgettable character.
Sunday, February 9, 2020
Joseph McCarthy
The first time I remember hearing the name Joseph McCarthy was in my Oswego High School American History class during junior year (1961-1962). My teacher, Francis Riley, was a big supporter. He predicted that one day a statue would be erected dedicated to McCarthy. It hasn't happened yet and probably won't. Sorry, Mr. Riley.
Joseph McCarthy was born on a farm in Wisconsin in 1908. He graduated from high school in Manawa and received a LL. B. degree from the Marquette University Law School in Milwaukee.
In 1939, McCarthy was elected a state judge in Wisconsin's 10th District. After Pearl Harbor, he enlisted in the Marine Corp. as a first lieutenant. McCarthy served as an intelligence briefing officer for a bomber squadron in the South Pacific. He also flew 12 combat missions as a gunner observer.
In 1946, McCarthy was elected as a Republican to the United States Senate from Wisconsin with 61% of the votes. A few years later, he was selected as "the worst U.S. Senator" by the Senate press corp.
On February 9, 1950 (70 years ago today), McCarthy gave a Lincoln Day speech to a Republican women's club in Wheeling, West Virginia. There, he held up a piece of paper and made the following claim:
"The State Department is infested with Communists. I have here in my hand a list of 205, a list of names that were made known to the Secretary of State (Dean Acheson) as being members of the Communist Party and who nevertheless are still working and shaping policy in the State Department."
McCarthy followed up this unsubstantiated claim by sending a telegram to President Harry Truman making a similar unsubstantiated claim, except there he used the number 57. The Wheeling speech gave rise to a flood of interest in McCarthy.
From then on, McCarthy continued to exploit the national fear of communism and alleged communist influence in the federal government. His methods, demagoguery, baseless defamation and mudslinging, became known as McCarthyism.
In 1952, while General Dwight David Eisenhower won the presidential election (61% of the popular vote in Wisconsin), McCarthy was re-elected to the Senate with 54% of the vote.
McCarthy's political downfall happened in 1954 when at a televised Senatorial hearing investigating the United States Army, counselor for the Army, Joseph Welch, said the following to McCarthy:
"Let us not assassinate this lad (Fred Fisher) further, Senator. You have done enough. Have you no sense of decency, sir, at long last? Have you left no sense of decency?"
McCarthy died in 1957 (age 48) from the affects of alcoholism.
Joseph McCarthy was born on a farm in Wisconsin in 1908. He graduated from high school in Manawa and received a LL. B. degree from the Marquette University Law School in Milwaukee.
In 1939, McCarthy was elected a state judge in Wisconsin's 10th District. After Pearl Harbor, he enlisted in the Marine Corp. as a first lieutenant. McCarthy served as an intelligence briefing officer for a bomber squadron in the South Pacific. He also flew 12 combat missions as a gunner observer.
In 1946, McCarthy was elected as a Republican to the United States Senate from Wisconsin with 61% of the votes. A few years later, he was selected as "the worst U.S. Senator" by the Senate press corp.
On February 9, 1950 (70 years ago today), McCarthy gave a Lincoln Day speech to a Republican women's club in Wheeling, West Virginia. There, he held up a piece of paper and made the following claim:
"The State Department is infested with Communists. I have here in my hand a list of 205, a list of names that were made known to the Secretary of State (Dean Acheson) as being members of the Communist Party and who nevertheless are still working and shaping policy in the State Department."
McCarthy followed up this unsubstantiated claim by sending a telegram to President Harry Truman making a similar unsubstantiated claim, except there he used the number 57. The Wheeling speech gave rise to a flood of interest in McCarthy.
From then on, McCarthy continued to exploit the national fear of communism and alleged communist influence in the federal government. His methods, demagoguery, baseless defamation and mudslinging, became known as McCarthyism.
In 1952, while General Dwight David Eisenhower won the presidential election (61% of the popular vote in Wisconsin), McCarthy was re-elected to the Senate with 54% of the vote.
McCarthy's political downfall happened in 1954 when at a televised Senatorial hearing investigating the United States Army, counselor for the Army, Joseph Welch, said the following to McCarthy:
"Let us not assassinate this lad (Fred Fisher) further, Senator. You have done enough. Have you no sense of decency, sir, at long last? Have you left no sense of decency?"
McCarthy died in 1957 (age 48) from the affects of alcoholism.
Sunday, February 2, 2020
The Sound of Music
The Sound of Music is a 1965 film musical, produced and directed by Robert Wise. It stars Julie Andrews (see blog post Emily) as Maria von Trapp, a former postulant, governess and finally step-mother to seven children who emigrate with her from Austria to America as a result of World War II. The Sound of Music was nominated for ten Academy Awards, winning five, including Best Picture (Wise) and Best Director (Wise).
The film version was adapted from the 1959 The Sound of Music Broadway musical, music and lyrics by Richard Rodgers and Oscar Hammerstein II. The stage version was based upon Maria von Trapp's 1949 memoir, The Story of the von Trapp Family Singers.
In The Sound of Music film, postulant Maria (Kutschera) is assigned by her Benedictine monastery to be a governess to the children of retired Naval Captain Georg von Trapp whose wife (Agatha) had died of scarlet fever.
Maria, having no experience as a governess, is very nervous as she travels to the von Trapp family home near Salzburg, Austria. For the film version only, Richard Rogers wrote the music and the lyrics for this inspirational song, I Have Confidence, sung by Maria while on her way.
What will this day be like?
I wonder.
What will my future be?
I wonder.
It could be so exciting,
To be out in the world,
To be free!
My heart should be wildly rejoicing.
Oh, what's the matter with me?
I've always longed for adventure,
To do the things I've never dared.
Now here I'm facing adventure
Then why am I so scared?
A captain with seven children
What's so fearsome about that?
Oh, I must stop these doubts,
All these worries.
If I don't I just know I'll turn back!
I must dream of the things I am seeking.
I am seeking the courage I lack.
The courage to serve them with reliance,
Face my mistakes without defiance.
Show them I'm worthy
And while I show them
I'll show me!
So, let them bring on all their problems,
I'll do better than my best.
I have confidence. They'll put me to the test,
but I'll make them see I have confidence in me,
somehow I will impress them,
I will be firm but kind,
and all those children, heaven bless them,
they will look up to me, and mind me,
with each step I am more certain everything will turn out fine, I have confidence the world will all be mine,
they'll have to agree I have confidence in me.
I have confidence in sunshine.
I have confidence in rain.
I have confidence that spring will come again.
Besides which you see I have confidence in me.
Strength doesn't lie in numbers.
Strength doesn't lie in wealth.
Strength lies in nights of peaceful slumbers.
When you wake up, wake up. It's healthy.
All I trust I leave my heart to,
all I trust becomes my own.
I have confidence in confidence alone.
I have confidence in confidence alone,
besides which you see I have confidence in me.
The film version was adapted from the 1959 The Sound of Music Broadway musical, music and lyrics by Richard Rodgers and Oscar Hammerstein II. The stage version was based upon Maria von Trapp's 1949 memoir, The Story of the von Trapp Family Singers.
In The Sound of Music film, postulant Maria (Kutschera) is assigned by her Benedictine monastery to be a governess to the children of retired Naval Captain Georg von Trapp whose wife (Agatha) had died of scarlet fever.
Maria, having no experience as a governess, is very nervous as she travels to the von Trapp family home near Salzburg, Austria. For the film version only, Richard Rogers wrote the music and the lyrics for this inspirational song, I Have Confidence, sung by Maria while on her way.
What will this day be like?
I wonder.
What will my future be?
I wonder.
It could be so exciting,
To be out in the world,
To be free!
My heart should be wildly rejoicing.
Oh, what's the matter with me?
I've always longed for adventure,
To do the things I've never dared.
Now here I'm facing adventure
Then why am I so scared?
A captain with seven children
What's so fearsome about that?
Oh, I must stop these doubts,
All these worries.
If I don't I just know I'll turn back!
I must dream of the things I am seeking.
I am seeking the courage I lack.
The courage to serve them with reliance,
Face my mistakes without defiance.
Show them I'm worthy
And while I show them
I'll show me!
So, let them bring on all their problems,
I'll do better than my best.
I have confidence. They'll put me to the test,
but I'll make them see I have confidence in me,
somehow I will impress them,
I will be firm but kind,
and all those children, heaven bless them,
they will look up to me, and mind me,
with each step I am more certain everything will turn out fine, I have confidence the world will all be mine,
they'll have to agree I have confidence in me.
I have confidence in sunshine.
I have confidence in rain.
I have confidence that spring will come again.
Besides which you see I have confidence in me.
Strength doesn't lie in numbers.
Strength doesn't lie in wealth.
Strength lies in nights of peaceful slumbers.
When you wake up, wake up. It's healthy.
All I trust I leave my heart to,
all I trust becomes my own.
I have confidence in confidence alone.
I have confidence in confidence alone,
besides which you see I have confidence in me.
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