A Fire that Still Burns: A Characters Lessons that Last a Lifetime by Angela

A Fire that Still Burns: A Characters Lessons that Last a Lifetime by Angela - October 2025 Scholarship Essay

The first time I read a proper novel was in 4th grade when I picked up the book one of the Warrior Cats series by Erin Hunter. It’s a children’s book series about feral house cats living in the wild in societies called ‘Clans’ and navigating the social issues they face and the conflicts that arise between ‘Clans’. The premise sounds silly, but for a kid like myself who loved cats it was the perfect way to get me absolutely hooked on reading. Firestar was the main character of the first series, starting as a young kid like I was when I cracked open the first book, and ending as a young adult like I am now. He was discriminated against for being born a house cat outside the ‘Clans’, something that other characters believed meant he was inherently incapable and weak. He had to fight against this every day, working harder than anyone else to prove his worth. It reminded me of myself at the time, I was often the target of bullies and I struggled to deal with it beyond lashing out and getting myself in trouble for being just as mean as them. But when I read Firestar take insults about his house-cat origins on the chest and remain honorable and kind regardless, I started to try and do the same.
Unfortunately for Firestar, anti-house cat discrimination wasn’t the only thing that he had to deal with. He learned that a powerful cat in his ‘Clan’ named Tigerclaw was involved in a complicated murder plot to try and gain control of all the ‘Clans’, putting innocent lives at risk to achieve his goals. Tigerclaw was a strong and powerful character, one that Firestar was initially powerless to combat, just like I had felt powerless to fight against my bullies. They may not have been horrible murderers, but I felt as though I had no way to make them leave me alone. I remember while reading the book I would often be interrupted by people trying to get a rise out of me and trying to upset me. They’d even call me weird for wanting to read during recess instead of playing games with everyone else- regardless of the fact they’d always intentionally exclude me from the games. Before I’d started reading Warrior Cats I would’ve fallen for their bait and lashed out, ending with me getting in trouble for insulting the bullies back.
But Firestar didn’t give up, so neither did I. He saw injustice and refused to let it be, he spent his entire book series finding evidence to prove what Tigerclaw had done until he could finally bring him to justice. He fought to reveal the truth all while he was still facing accusations of weakness and inadequacy for being born a house cat. The story enraptured 5th grade me. It inspired me to stand up to my bullies without stooping to their level like Firestar had done with his own bullies, and to tell my teacher about them like Firestar had told everyone about Tigerclaw’s murder. I started trying to ignore my bullies' insults as Firestar had and would make myself tell a teacher when their bullying would get to me instead of retaliating with equal cruelty. The quarrels I dealt with in my life were nowhere near as intense as what Firestar dealt with, but I still tried to emulate Firestar's perseverance against adversity and determination to do the right thing regardless. Whether or not I realized it at the time, I was taking those lessons in Firestar's story to heart.
When people berate me or throw cruelties at me today, I refuse to allow it to stop me. Even if it hurts me I push and continue to move forward, refusing to debase myself by matching their spiteful attitudes. As an adult I understand that the injustices of the world can’t be solved by simply trying to prove that a villain's evil or by telling a teacher that someone’s doing bad things, yet still, when I see something that I believe is wrong, I act. I participate in protests, report people to the proper authorities, and intervene when people need help. I refuse to let injustice stand unopposed if I’m capable of standing against it. I don’t exactly think anything along the lines of ‘Firestar wouldn’t have stood for this!’, but I can’t deny that the lessons of the feline's perseverance against oppression and determination to bring the nefarious Tigerclaw to justice influenced my own similar qualities today. It feels silly to think that a fictional orange cat with a goofy name like ‘Firestar’ from a children’s book series I read as a kid so many years ago could impact who I am today as a young adult, but I can’t help but think that if the child I was then saw me confronting injustices or taking insults to the chin today, he might say “You’re just like Firestar!”