NewsUpper SchoolStudent LifePre-K to 8Service
Bonnyman wins Zone Level of Breakfast Optimist Club Oratorical Contest
May 13, 2005 11:35 AM
By Tannika King - Faculty
Eighth-grader Isabel Bonnyman won first place at the Zone Level of the Breakfast Optimist Club Oratorical Contest in April. Read the full text of her essay below:
"A stumbling block to a pessimist is a stepping stone to an optimist," so said Eleanor Roosevelt.
For as long as I have been able to read, my hero has been Eleanor Roosevelt. Eleanor devoted a lifetime of service to humanity. She did encounter many stumbling blocks in her life which, through her steadfast determination and optimism, she turned into stepping stones. Not only do I admire Eleanor for her aptitude to overcome any obstacle, but also for the great strides she made for civil and women's rights.
Even in her childhood, Eleanor seemed to possess a multitude of virtues and ethics that most adults today couldn't dream of obtaining. Eleanor wore a back brace in her youth, and not only did she overcome her handicap, she cheered herself with thoughts of the day she could cast her brace aside to stand straight and tall. Eleanor took to visiting patients with permanent disabilities, speaking to them with optimism and hope. A quiet, awkward child, she learned to overcome her lonliness through helping others, and in her spare time Eleanor worked among the poor in the city settlement houses. Eleanor never had trouble standing up for what she believed in.
Eleanor Roosevelt wed in 1905, and when she found out her husband was in love with another woman, she calmly looked on the bright side, and decided to make a life of her own. She created a furniture facotry for the unemployed, and in 1927 she set up and taught at a school for underprivileged children. Eleanor had once said, "You get more joy out of giving to others, and should put a good deal of thought into the happiness you are able to give."
She also became a dynamic member of the League of Women's Voters, Women's Trade Union League, and Women's Division of the Democratic Party. Rather than allowing the situation with her husband to ruin her life, Eleanor put aside her own emotions for the personal good. After she had done so, the problem that could have been the stumbling block solved itself, and they became a team again.
In 1921, Franklin Roosevelt was crippled with polio. Eleanor Roosevelt became her husband's political stand in and was known affectionately as his "eyes and ears." Her optimism encouraged his convalescence and inspired his will to persevere as she overcame yet another trying situation.
FDR became president in 1933, which opened up hundreds of opportunities to Eleanor. She organized over 350 press conferences for women reporters, published her newspaper column "My Day," and did so much more for the American people. It is obvious to me why Harry Truman called Mrs. Roosevelt "Frist Lady of the world." Shocked to find African Americans being continually discriminated, she would interrupt her husband at any time, citing statistics, cross-examining, or giving him memos to read, even late at night. However, Eleanor was effective - she convinced him to pass new laws. For she remarked once, "I could not at any age be content to take my place in a corner by the fireside and simply look on."
Following her husband's death in 1945, she emerged from the valley of the shadow of death a stronger more competent person, with a possibly harder drive. Eleanor said, "It's better to light a candle than to curse the darkness," and taking her own advice Eleanor lit her torch. She was appointed a member of the U.S. delegation to the first general assembly of the United Nations the exact year, and worked with them to help found UNICEF.
As elected chairman of the UN's Human Rights Commission, she helped draft the Universal Declaration of Human Rights, and was later appointed head of the Commission on the Status of Women. Her husband's death was possibly Eleanor's biggest stumbling boulder, and yet she summoned up the heroism inside to make the aftermath her smallest stepping stone.
Eleanor Roosevelt passed away Nov. 7, 1962. She was one of the greatest women of all time. Eleanor was not a passive, delicate young lady of her generation, rather she was a strong, outspoken women who knew her priorities to society. She devoted a lifetime to humanity and I am proud to say she is my hero. She had once stated that, "The future belongs to those who believe in the beauty of their dreams."
"A stumbling block to a pessimist is a stepping stone to an optimist," so said Eleanor Roosevelt.
For as long as I have been able to read, my hero has been Eleanor Roosevelt. Eleanor devoted a lifetime of service to humanity. She did encounter many stumbling blocks in her life which, through her steadfast determination and optimism, she turned into stepping stones. Not only do I admire Eleanor for her aptitude to overcome any obstacle, but also for the great strides she made for civil and women's rights.
Even in her childhood, Eleanor seemed to possess a multitude of virtues and ethics that most adults today couldn't dream of obtaining. Eleanor wore a back brace in her youth, and not only did she overcome her handicap, she cheered herself with thoughts of the day she could cast her brace aside to stand straight and tall. Eleanor took to visiting patients with permanent disabilities, speaking to them with optimism and hope. A quiet, awkward child, she learned to overcome her lonliness through helping others, and in her spare time Eleanor worked among the poor in the city settlement houses. Eleanor never had trouble standing up for what she believed in.
Eleanor Roosevelt wed in 1905, and when she found out her husband was in love with another woman, she calmly looked on the bright side, and decided to make a life of her own. She created a furniture facotry for the unemployed, and in 1927 she set up and taught at a school for underprivileged children. Eleanor had once said, "You get more joy out of giving to others, and should put a good deal of thought into the happiness you are able to give."
She also became a dynamic member of the League of Women's Voters, Women's Trade Union League, and Women's Division of the Democratic Party. Rather than allowing the situation with her husband to ruin her life, Eleanor put aside her own emotions for the personal good. After she had done so, the problem that could have been the stumbling block solved itself, and they became a team again.
In 1921, Franklin Roosevelt was crippled with polio. Eleanor Roosevelt became her husband's political stand in and was known affectionately as his "eyes and ears." Her optimism encouraged his convalescence and inspired his will to persevere as she overcame yet another trying situation.
FDR became president in 1933, which opened up hundreds of opportunities to Eleanor. She organized over 350 press conferences for women reporters, published her newspaper column "My Day," and did so much more for the American people. It is obvious to me why Harry Truman called Mrs. Roosevelt "Frist Lady of the world." Shocked to find African Americans being continually discriminated, she would interrupt her husband at any time, citing statistics, cross-examining, or giving him memos to read, even late at night. However, Eleanor was effective - she convinced him to pass new laws. For she remarked once, "I could not at any age be content to take my place in a corner by the fireside and simply look on."
Following her husband's death in 1945, she emerged from the valley of the shadow of death a stronger more competent person, with a possibly harder drive. Eleanor said, "It's better to light a candle than to curse the darkness," and taking her own advice Eleanor lit her torch. She was appointed a member of the U.S. delegation to the first general assembly of the United Nations the exact year, and worked with them to help found UNICEF.
As elected chairman of the UN's Human Rights Commission, she helped draft the Universal Declaration of Human Rights, and was later appointed head of the Commission on the Status of Women. Her husband's death was possibly Eleanor's biggest stumbling boulder, and yet she summoned up the heroism inside to make the aftermath her smallest stepping stone.
Eleanor Roosevelt passed away Nov. 7, 1962. She was one of the greatest women of all time. Eleanor was not a passive, delicate young lady of her generation, rather she was a strong, outspoken women who knew her priorities to society. She devoted a lifetime to humanity and I am proud to say she is my hero. She had once stated that, "The future belongs to those who believe in the beauty of their dreams."
