What if you’re going skydiving for the first time and are afraid of heights? You would stand on the precipice and face your fear as you choose whether to jump or not. Up until that point, the decision can be postponed, but now — with the rush of air passing by the door, it’s decision time. How does the choice affect you? If you jump and have faced your fear of heights head on, is your fear gone? Or do you know that when you are in a situation where your fears come into play, you do have the fortitude to face them down? If you choose not to jump, does that mean you’re a failure? What kind of scar does that leave and how does that affect your decision making in the future?

A moment of truth on a personal level means the decision shows you your true self, and there is no going back from it. Can you change your mind? Yes. Say you chose the school across the country and attended for a semester, but then decided you’d rather attend somewhere closer to home. You might think you’re going back, but you have already been altered from your choice in the first place. You have life experiences you never would have had. In 7th Grade Revolution, some of the kids had to face such a moment of truth. Ellen was given the opportunity to go into the tunnel, and she couldn’t face it. For Dennis, the finding of the ladder into the tunnel was bittersweet. Being afraid of the dark, with good reason, he now had to face his fears head on with deliberation as to whether he would lower himself into the pitch dark tunnel.

     Rhonda knelt next to the door on the opposite side, curiosity bubbling. Oh my goodness. Silas had thrown them more curves than a sidewinder in the desert.
     Dennis snatched at the side of the door, and she searched more closely.
     There it was. A wooden nail. Gripping it with her stubby fingernails, she pulled it out.
     When they each held a wooden peg, Dennis grinned and pushed the bottom flap of the door down. He slid the slim plywood out and revealed a rope ladder within. A rope ladder with wooden planks for the crossbars.
     Dennis yanked the rope and dropped it through the hole. “Who’s going in?” Dust billowed through the opening.

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James is faced with a dilemma when he is nominated to be one of the leaders of the bloodless revolution. Because he was normally one of the most easy-going of the group, his classmates were baffled. His action here causes Dennis to question his loyalty to the cause after the school had been evacuated. From 7th Grade Revolution:

Surrounded by girls, James Marshall frowned and shook his head. Danielle clutched his arm, talking a mile a minute, but he shook her hand off, strode away from the group, and marched to the board. Fingers curled into a fist, he used the side of his hand to erase his name from under the Greene room. He scowled at the board for a moment, then wiped the marker dust on his pant leg and left the room.

I remember making decisions going into my teen years based on how many people wanted me to follow a course of action, whether peers or parents … and I’d go the opposite direction with predictable results. I wanted to assert my independence to show the world who I was — even if I didn’t really know who that was at the time.

Bonus points to anyone who can say why the breakout rooms were named Morgan, Greene, Connelly, and McDowell

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