Maybe We Should Not Be that Afraid of Sharks

[Delancey]

Did you ever participate in an essay contest when you were in school? People actually read them, including my wife and I.

My wife works as an editor for a publisher of educational materials which sponsors an essay contest in honor of an athlete who over came adversity to become the first African American to play in a particular sport, and the theme of the contest is "how did I overcome adversity?"

Over the years we have read hundreds, if not thousands of letters. Interestingly enough many children are very proud of themselves for having overcome their fear of sharks and gone swimming at the beach! How's that for overcoming adversity? Apparently a fear of sharks is very common with children.

The essays are really quite sweet and it is nice to see that a fear of sharks is the worst of so many children's problems.