K S LO ENGLISH

In 2018, I enrolled into secondary school. I was not good at socialising and not familiar with any of my new classmates. Therefore, I often sat in the corner of the classroom. In fact, I wanted to go out and chat with the others but I was not brave enough to do so.

The situation did not change much until year 2021.  At the school Christmas party, everyone dressed up nice and took a lot of photos with each other. They were chatting and planning their Christmas activities. As always, I was sitting in the corner of the classroom. I was hoping for someone to come over and invite me to join them during Christmas holiday. The little drama was played in my brain again and again and I became sadder and sadder. Suddenly, my tears dropped.

When I was in my deep sorrow, someone patted my shoulder. A girl stood before me. Her name is Vicky.  I was shocked.  She saw me crying, passed me a tissue and invited me to join her.  “Hello JoJo!   Are you free during Christmas?” asked Vicky.  I nodded.  “Let’s go to Tsim Sha Tsui to watch the fireworks show!  Shall we meet at the bus stop at seven o’clock?”  I was very surprised that someone invited ME! It was too good to be true!

On Christmas, I arrived at the bus stop on time. It was seven o’clock but I didn’t see Vicky. I stood there and waited. After a while, Vicky did not show up and some negative thoughts popped up in my mind. Anxiety, depression and panic started to set in. Had I been tricked?  I knew it!  Being invited to spend Christmas with someone was too good to be true! I should not have trusted her.  What a cruel prank to play on me!  She was like all the others. She was no different from all the people who ignored me and I felt she could even be the worst.  I was so disappointed.

Suddenly, a girl ran towards me.  It was Vicky.  “Sorry I am late.  The lifts at my building were out of order! I’m SO SO SORRY!” explained Vicky. “Then, when I was running to the bus stop, my bag was suddenly torn open!  All my things scattered everywhere on the ground!  I had to go back home to replace my bag!  I am very sorry!”  She panted heavily while giving me a hug. 

I was moved. I felt very guilty for thinking the worst about her! In fact, my first thought was very skeptical, but judging by her breathlessness and elaborate explanation it didn’t seem like she had made this story up!  My heart was warm and touched. Never had I ever had someone who cared about me!  

We were really excited when we were waiting for the fireworks to start. With the loud noise of the booming fireworks in the sky, Vicky shouted, “JoJo please be my friend forever and be more optimistic and positive from now on!.’  

I looked at her in surprise.  This was the first time someone wanted to be my friend. No one had ever asked me before. I gave her a big hug.  A warm current flowed into my heart warming up the chill in the winter’s night. 

A friend is like a rainbow. Friends could brighten up your life when you go through a storm.  Vicky is my rainbow.  Friends are really important in our life.  

Sometimes, only a simple remark from others is enough to change the way people think about themselves.

This story happened last year, when I was thirteen years old. At that time, I was a self-abased and an introverted person that I could not get on well with my classmates. Compared with me, most of my classmates were doing well in exams. Nevertheless, some of them were competitive in playing different kinds of music instruments. I always thought that I was useless as I was not good at studying and that I wasn’t outstanding in any field. I did nothing well. Therefore, to boost my confidence, I decided to find something that I was interested in and tried to work on it.

I love listening to music. I found forming a band was cool since I was in primary school. For me, bass guitar is the most interesting instrument. Consequently, I planned to learn playing the bass guitar.

At the very beginning, it was so difficult for me to move all the fingers at the same time. Therefore, I couldn’t even complete a simple song after the first lesson. I attributed my incompetence in playing bass guitar to my disadvantage—— my short fingers. But I was accidentally proven to be wrong afterwards. When I surfed on the Internet, I randomly came across to a video clip, which was a nine-year-old boy playing bass guitar. I was shocked that he could play many songs. Meanwhile, I hadn’t even acquired any basic technique. I realized that it is not the matter of the size of my hands. It is about how much effort I put into it.

As the saying goes, “practice makes perfect.” I was then inspired by it and worked even harder and harder on playing the bass guitar. Despite much effort put into it, I could hardly notice any improvement. I was confused and frustrated. I didn’t know where it went wrong. I was afraid that my teacher would criticise me for not having any improvement.

As time went on, it was the second bass guitar lesson. I went into the music institute with fear. I showed what I had practiced to my teacher. I was ready to hear criticism from him.

Unexpectedly, what I heard was the teacher’s appreciation and encouragement. “Wow… I know you have practiced hard as you have done a very good job! I can’t believe that you have only learnt it for two weeks. Although you are just a beginner, you can already play a song! You nail it completely! Don’t be too self-critical, you are the first person who has made such rapid progress that I have ever seen,” he told me with a big smile on his face.

At that moment, I was surprised that there is someone in the world think I am hardworking and capable instead of useless and stupid. I was so happy to receive my teacher’s praise. It was just like I found the light at the end of the tunnel. I finally got something I am good at. I believe that I can do it better than others. Everyone has his or her own strength and weakness because we are all different from the others. Without a doubt, I am different from the others too!

After this event, I have learnt that my strength might not be studying or making friends. But I’m a total music lover and I am willing to practise hard to make my performance awesome!

At the end of the day, I have learnt that we should not be self-abased, and we should be proud of what we have achieved.

When was the moment you felt yourself different from before? Was it the time that you got rewards from studying hard? Or the time that you did a great job? Well! Mine happened in the year of 2021. Let us begin the story back to August 2021.
In 2021, the Pandemic was not over yet. I thought this virus would leave us soon but it didn’t. Therefore, I rested for another year without doing anything. However, the reality was cruel. My annual exam results in year 2021 were released and guess what? I failed my exam! I was quite surprised with my results because I was performing well in the previous exam.

Soon after the exam, the summer holiday started and I didn’t change much. I spent my holiday chatting on the phone and lying on my bed. Until one day, my sister asked me, ‘Are you satisfied with your life right now? Are you alive or just existing?’
Her words were so inspirational and I was fuelled with motivation. I knew I would be a Form 3 student soon. I would have to decide what to study in the coming three years, which would possibly determine my future! “What am I doing here?” I thought. I wasn’t supposed to stay in the bed every single day! When thinking about my life, my future and my study, I started to get anxious and depressed.
I had spent two years in my secondary school already, and my studenthood was a disaster. I had no directions for my study and I had no way to solve my problem. I lost myself. I totally lost myself without realising the importance of study and the planning for future. I didn’t understand what was happening. The world was changing so fast. Everyone was doing their best and they were fighting for what they wanted. At that moment, I felt like I was disqualified from this world.

It was the time to change! I should try new things and explore what I desire the most. Who do I want to be? What is my goal?

After thinking about it, I started to step out of my comfort zone and the results turned out to be great. I know that was a great start. I felt happier, brighter and more confident. Although we couldn’t predict what would happen next, I would at least try and figure out the end all by myself. Just give everything a shot! Of course there will be disappointing moments. However, you’ll learn life lessons from failure that you won’t easily understand from a textbook. The key to success is to discover it on your own.

That was the story of me being different for the first time. The moment of epiphany could make us happy. The happiest thing that happened in this terrible year was getting to know more about myself. I finally met my goals and found my happiness. I am proud of being a person who fights for my dream. Life is tough but you won’t grow without hardship. You should try to live your lives to the fullest and keep working because rewards are coming to you!