Plucky.

My third grade teacher writes the word in silky white chalk. Our SAT word of the day, a word that will forever be etched in my spongy brain. She tells a story of a prior student using the word on the state’s standardized test and how that student received a perfect score. I will always remember the synonyms, hoping that one day I could attain such a score, using such advanced vocabulary. Courageous. Brave. Fearless.

Plucky.

A nurse in the hospital utters the word while spouting out some inspirational quote. My stomach churns. I vowed to never forget the word almost 15 years ago. But here I am, having acted quite the opposite of the word that once meant so much to me. Sitting in a room full of people who have also forgotten the meaning. People who have drunk their way through hard times. People who have taken whole pill bottles, just like me, to drown out any adversity that may be challenging us. Cowardly. Gutless. Fearful.

Plucky.

How can I have forgotten so easily a word that once meant so much to me? A word that I once wanted to embody.

—By Ellen O., 20, Pennsylvania