In
the realism story <The Lady with the Dog>, the part I thought the most
realistic was that the transition was made by not an enormous milestone event
but a trivial event that can occur any time in our lives. Gurov went indignant
by a vain joke “The sturgeon was a bit too strong!” and made the grand decision
of travelling to where Anna lives. Surely our real lives are not composed of
dramatic events; rather a continuum of mundane routines eventually makes up a
change.
In
the magical realism story <A Very Old Man with Enormous Wings>, the
transitions are apparently not at all realistic. Suddenly an angel appears in
the courtyard, brings enormous wealth to Pelayo’s family, and flies away again
abruptly. However, those changes are described in such a mediocre tone that they
seem to be some of our gradual and mundane routines. For example, the first encounter
of Pelayo and Elisenda and the angel is described as follows:
“They looked at him so long and so closely that Pelayo and
Elisenda very soon overcame their surprise and in the end found him familiar.”
Pelayo and Elisenda’s
feeling is no more intense than what they might feel when they find an abandoned
dog and decide to nurture it in a chicken coop. They will not be familiar with
the angel if the angel is a landmark event in their lives. Moreover, his “miracles”
are trivial “consolations”, such as making
a blind man grow three new teeth, which are far from grandiose events. Even
when the angel flies away, he starts with a clumsy failure, while Elisenda is “cutting some bunches of onions”, an
everyday routine. Generally, the angel, possibly a source of significant supernatural
transitions of this story, is actually a decrepit man with wings full of
parasites, and merely a part of a monotonous routine. This brings the magic
elements of the angel into the pool of realism.
This
story is also realistic in that it describes the selfish human nature. The
relationship between the humans and the angel is absolutely based on needs.
After the angel cures their child’s fever, the humans feel magnanimous, and consider
releasing the angel on a raft with provisions. However, after they discover
that he is a potential source of enormous profits, they confine him in a
chicken coop and let him be tortured by the equally selfish crowd. As he no
longer becomes a fortune, Elisenda shouts “that it was awful living in that hell full of angels.” Their calculating relationship perhaps reflects the
connections prevalent in our contemporary society which lack warmth and altruism.
The spider woman is another notable theme that conveys how
myopic humans are. The spider woman’s provocative story, supported by awful
visual evidence, conveys a direct moral to the crowd. The crowd suddenly feels
no need to meet the angel, whose miracles do not provide a direct cure, and therefore
disintegrates. Even if their motivation to meeting the angel was a religious
conviction (regarding that Catholic has been dominant in Latin American
society), such belief is abstract and therefore easily overwhelmed by sensual
experiences. People tend to take the short and clear paths of which the
endpoints are immediately seen in their eyes, rather than the long and obscure
ones, which potentially have bigger rewards. Moreover, fear, represented by the
spider, more easily prompts people to act right away than hope, symbolized by
the angel. In these ways the spider woman portrays our shortsighted nature, a realistic
trait of humans.
Personally, I thought that the depiction of Elisenda at the last
part was also very realistic. When the angel flies into the air, her feeling is
closer to regret than to freedom from a nuisance, as she fastens her gaze on
the “imaginary dot”. The ending perfectly portrays how humans recognize a value
of an existence only at its absence, just as we realize that we have to serve
our parents with devotion only after they pass away. Whether the angel was a
source of profit or a source of discomfort, Elisenda gets to miss him when he is
no longer there.
<A Very Old Man with Enormous Wings> is a work that successfully
blends the magical elements into a realistic tone and theme, as the story
depicts magic as a banality, and deals with realistic human nature, such as
selfishness and myopia. I really loved the way how magical realism makes sense.
During my research I found that this genre is greatly affected by Latin
American folklores. I am looking forward to read other magical realism works
and perhaps the folklores that underlies as the basis of this genre.
“What
are you drawing on my window?” The taxi driver asked, breaking the silence.
Awaken
from my entangled thoughts, I replied, “Oh, a floating ball, sir.”
“What
for?”
“It’s
my physics research problem. A ball can float on a slanted airstream.”
I was thinking about one of
the forces that capture the ball inside the airstream. On the wet taxi window,
I drew a circle and some curves and arrows.
“Wow,
it’s amazing.”
“Yup,
it’s like magic. A juggling magic.”
I was surprised by myself saying
this. Truly the floating ball was similar with juggling. You juggle three balls
with two hands. The airstream juggles one ball with no hand. As juggling is a
continuous cycle of the balls, the floating ball exhibits a cycle of
oscillating motion.
I soon became lost in memories, in
a Christmas day 5 years ago. I received professional juggling balls for
Christmas gift. Excited, I juggled all day so hard. I stared at the juggling lecture
videos and scrutinized how the video guy showed a stable command of various
skills. I tried to mimic him, dropped the balls, and tried and dropped, again
and again. Whenever I was stuck I took a video of myself to see why I had kept
failing. At the end of the day I could juggle under my leg, behind my back, and
with my hands flipped. Still, there were so many skills left to do with three
balls.
Whoosh, 4 years after, Christmas
day again, in a physics research camp. I was given a research problem for a
physics debate competition. Thrilled, I conducted rigorous experiments all day.
I stared at the phenomenon videos I had taken, searching for the conditions of
stable levitation. Various forces acted upon the ball, and various factors
influenced the motion. I put the ball on the airstream, dropped, and put and
dropped, again and again. Whenever I found myself in a theoretical dilemma I asked
myself fundamentally why the phenomenon happens. At the end of the camp I could
explain some part of the phenomenon, but still there were so many veiled
effects.
Whoosh, to the juggling days, in
the National Park, and in a service center. I performed juggling with my team.
I juggled two balls and an apple, which I bit in each cycle. Then my teammate stole
them away, maintaining the cycle of juggling. I pretended to be angry, and took
them back again and ran away, juggling and biting the apple voraciously. To
perfect a single performance I had eaten hundreds of apples and had thrown the balls
thousand times. Each cycle of balls, a fruit of devoted practice, delighted the
crowd in the National Park and the grannies in the service center.
Whoosh, now I was in the final
round of the physics debate competition. I made a presentation about my research of the
floating ball. With elaborate equations and vivid imagery descriptions, I explained
the forces that make the ball oscillate inside the airstream. Only for this
presentation I had been awake and struggling till dawn for an entire month. Each
explanation of the oscillation, a product of dedicated investigation, elated
other student physicists and professors.
Zoom, back in the taxi. I wondered
how come I had been driven back to juggling after 4 years. Then I realized, I had
been juggling with life all the time. Life has itself been an incessant cycle.
A cycle that requires numerous trials and lessons to unmask some of its extremely
various elements, but still the whole never reveals itself. A pure, fundamental
inquiry about ‘why’ usually eases the process of knowing its mystery. Most importantly,
life rewards only those who are the most passionate.
I looked up the window. The ball and
the airstream glittered as the water droplets reflected the sunlight. My juggling
cycle had not ended. In fact, it will never end.
From
a distance, in <The Dead>, Gabriel’s dinner speech that people should not
linger on the past may seem to contradict his later epiphany. Certainly,
although he says he will leave the traces of the past and rejoice in the
present in his dinner speech, he cannot evade the shadow of Michael Furey, a
man killed by love. But if you take a closer look you will see that such
contradiction does not exist. In Gabriel’s own speech he clearly says, “……still cherish in our hearts the memory of
those dead and gone great ones whose fame the world will not willingly let
die.” He shows respect to the souls of the past and let them change his
life, as Michael’s faithful soul leads Gabriel to epiphany. He never says he will
totally ignore the past.
Then
why would he have said that he will not remain in the past? Ultimately, his
speech is a message to himself at the end of the story. The attitude described
in his speech rescues him from irretrievable death in the course of epiphany. From
the souls of the past, he realizes that he has been spiritually dead: he has
been condescending in relationships with people, his nationality has been vain,
and his love has not been truthful. However, he does not linger on his dead
self that has been filling him until then. He does not despair remaining in his
dead past, as “generous tears fills
Gabriel’s eyes” for the sake of dead Michael and his reviving soul. The
reflective and introspective tone of the last few paragraphs also indicates a
course of maturation rather than complete desolation. Although snow might
represent death, it does not last forever: it soon melts away when spring full
of life comes. In short, his miserable epiphany does not lead him to absolute
death, but rather provides a resurrection with a refreshed, vibrant soul, and
this corresponds to exactly what Gabriel has said in his dinner speech. He lets
the past souls to affect him, but he does not linger on his dead past, and accepts
the renewal of soul at the present. In this sense, Gabriel’s dinner speech is
perfectly consistent rather than contradictory to the last epiphany.
Personally,
I was glad that I could have at least a slight grasp about what Modernism is,
and how it is distinguished from Realism. At first I was uncomfortable that the
story seemed to contain three separate stories (Lily, Ms. Ivors, Gretta) that
do not have apparent link to each other, and that especially the first two did
not have clear correlation with the death. However, I later found out that this
misconnection is itself the very property of modernism. Virginia Woolf, one of
the greatest Modernist writers, wrote “Life is not a series of gig lamps symmetrically
arranged; life is a luminous halo, a semi-transparent envelope surrounding us
from the beginning of consciousness to the end.” Modernist writers concentrated
on reflecting the essence of life in literature work, and they thought that
life does not essentially work as a thrilling plot of four clear steps:
introduction, development, conversion, and summing up. Rather, life contains
several episodes that eventually reach a conclusion, which is exactly how <The
Dead> is structured.
The
epiphany of the story also follows a trait of Modernism. Influenced by Freud,
Modernist writers focused on the true nature of human psyche. By portraying how
Gabriel’s state of mind changes and finally reaches a realization, Joyce could
draw a deep insight on the internal world. Moreover, Joyce’s epiphany was
usually about acknowledging the reality, the true substance of life. Basically,
the epiphany in <Araby> was about the vanity of love along with religion,
and that in <The Dead> was about human interactions, identity, love, and death.
They are the abstract but essential cores of our life, exactly the interests of
Modernism!
I
liked James Joyce’s <The Dead> because it clearly exhibited the
characteristics of Modernism, which is distinguished from those of Realism in
that Modernism deals about the essence of life, which leads to an episode-based
structure and a focus on epiphany.
From a distance,
James Joyce's "Araby" might appear to be a tragic love story. After
all, when the nameless narrator becomes angry at the very last part, he seems
to be angry because he failed the quest of love as he was late for the bazaar.
However, on the other hand, his anguish contains a lot more meaning than a mere
failure in love has. His epiphany is that his ideal cannot exist in reality,
the banal life of Dubliners. Throughout the story the narrator’s ideal is
described as desperate, pure, and even holy. While he carries images of Mangan’s sister, he
imagines that he “bore his chalice safely
through a throng of foes.” In a room where a
priest had died, he presses his palms together and desperately prays, “O love, O love!” Araby, in his dreams,
luxuriates his soul and “casts an Eastern
enchantment over him”. However, such ideal
loses its value by the dull schoolwork, his uncle’s lateness, and
the train’s tardiness, which are the most typical aspects of his everyday life. When
he reaches Araby, which should be a festive and adventurous event, darkness and
timidity greet him. The young lady and the two men speak with sexual undertones
which insinuate an adulterate love. Finally he gives up buying his love a gift,
abandoning the ideal of love. Therefore, it is perhaps more accurate to assume
that <Araby> portrays a boy realizing the discrepancy between the ideal
and the reality. In this sense, Mangan’s sister and
Araby, which represent his ideal, finally turn out to be vain and empty.
From a distance,
James Joyce's "Araby" might appear to be a tragic love story. After
all, when the nameless narrator becomes angry at the very last part, some
readers would think that his anguish is because his love has miserably failed
as he was late for the bazaar. However, on the other hand, in my point of view,
his love never has existed. At first, attracted by the lady's appearance, he
acts as if he has a passionate love in mind. He watches her through the window
blinds every morning, thinks of her at every moment, and murmurs "O love!
O love!" However, his uncle comes home late, and the train departs late,
and due to these slightest ordeals, suddenly he forgets the desperate feeling.
He "remembers with difficulty" the reason why he had come, which is supposed
to be 'love'. If his love has been real, how can it be so easily forgotten?
Moreover, he does have the opportunity to buy the flowered tea-sets, but he
simply gives up. Why can't he buy them and give them to the lady, saying that
those were the last products left in Araby at 10 o' clock at night? Wouldn't it
be a romantic ending? It is because he realizes that what he has considered as
love is actually a mere attraction. In fact, at the beginning of the story, the
priest shows a love that is not vain. In the sentence "He had left all his
money to institutions and the furniture of his house to his sister", the
priest had preserved love even as he died. The narrator's attitude contradicts
to that of the priest. Therefore, it is perhaps more accurate to assume that he
has never loved the lady. He has been merely attracted by her appearance, and
has deluded himself that his feeling is love. In this sense, at the last part,
he becomes angry because he finally realizes what his true feeling was: vanity
and emptiness.
‘The Lady with the Dog’ by
Anton Chekhov is a captivating story about the love of a married man and a woman,
Gurov and Anna. I like this story because it has realistic and elaborate
descriptions about the characters’ mentality about love and adultery. In this
journal I would write about the change of Gurov’s attitude toward love: his
change from a flagrant philanderer to a true lover.
In part Ⅰ, Gurov is a corrupt character.
He is unfaithful to her wife, and despises women, even calling them as ‘lower
race’. However, ironically, and hypocritically, he comforts himself the most
when he meets women. He accosts Anna only to seek for entertainment in a dreary
routine. She is merely one of the ‘lower race’ people that pass him by.
However, in part Ⅱ, he certainly discovers her uniqueness: the “diffidence and angularity of inexperienced
youth” does not fit into any of his three categories of women. This insinuates
that Anna will be someone special in his life. However, his love is insincere.
He feels bored when Anna cries and suffers from guiltiness of adultery, and he is
more interested in kissing with her than understanding her emotions. Anna seems
to recognize this, and often “urges him to confess that he does not respect her”.
Moreover, about adultery, although he does not feel guilty as much as Anna
does, he does feel embarrassed. He displays vigilance while he kisses her in broad
daylight. Even the philanderer cannot completely avoid such embarrassment in a
society of stern atmosphere.
He
realizes his hypocrisy only after Anna leaves him. As Anna disappears with the
train horn, Gurov reflects back the memories with her. Thinking about his
ironical and condescending behaviors, he finally concludes that he has deceived
her. In part Ⅲ, he questions to himself whether he has really
been in love and whether his relation with Anna was beautiful or merely
entertaining. He has made a meaningful introspection, an essential prerequisite
for a mature, fulfilling love. Now he is ready for a true love.
Not
only he had some self-examination, his affection for Anna becomes more intense
after she leaves him. He would remember the memories with Anna at every moment,
and imagine their beautiful future. Anna “follows him about everywhere like a
shadow and haunts him’. She is now definitely a huge portion of his life. This
part reminds me of a quote from The
Prophet by Khalil Gibran: “And stand
together yet not too near together: For the pillars of the temple stand apart,
And the oak tree and the cypress grow not in each other’s shadow.” Gurov can
love Anna more by experiencing a period of parting, rather than staying near
her every day.
However,
still the love is incomplete. By inserting the sentence “Anna Sergeyevna did
not visit him in dreams” in an awkward place, the author may have intended to
emphasize that his love still had a room for expansion. Moreover, Gurov still
wants to confide and show off his memories of love, which directly indicates
that his love is yet not fully mature.
Gurov
finally visits her city due to an event that made him indignant. The event is
seemingly trivial; it cannot force him to make such grand decision. However,
this is the point where I thought Chekhov’s description is truly realistic.
Life is not a continuum of magnificent events as in romantic stories: it is
often initiated from the tiniest happening. Although the dialogue “the sturgeon
was a bit too strong!” might not be as dramatic as what readers might expect from
love stories, it makes the description of Gurov’s change extremely convincing
and realistic.
Anyway
he arrives in Anna’s town. When he finally sees the lady’s face, an enormous,
wild wave blows his mind. This is the very moment of completion of his love. He
realizes that she “filled his whole life now, was his sorrow and his joy, the
only happiness that he now desired for himself.” The rejoin after a long
farewell made his love absolute. Part Ⅳ reveals many evidences of the maturity of his
love. He now admits that he had solaced his miserable soul by considering women
as lower race, and completely escapes from the need for such comfort. He has “profound
compassion”, and craves for sincerity, a quality very opposite to a blatant womanizer.
He is a true lover!
Not
all ordeals are resolved. Gurov strives to deny the immorality of his adultery,
justifying himself that “all personal life rests on secrecy.” Anna is still
miserable of their situation of being “thieves”. Despite all these
difficulties, as their love is hardened with sincerity, they feel certain that
they will overcome any further challenges. As the last paragraph insists, a new
splendid life full of genuine love would begin.
Physics
is my major subject. Since I read a science cartoon book about elementary
particles, I have been greatly interested in physics and studied hard. When I
was in the middle school I participated in the Physics Olympiad. These days I
do researches on specific physical phenomenon and join in physics debate
tournaments. The phenomenon has been there since the creation of the universe,
and I, a tiny creation, strive to find its secrets. I feel joy when my
theoretical model corresponds with the phenomena, and when I find an unknown,
buried aspect of it which needs my rescue of research. A joy of a young
physicist!
2.Floating
Ping-Pong ball
A
Ping-Pong ball can float on a tilted airstream. This was one of the phenomena I
have ardently researched last year. I remember the amazing process I have
undergone to explain the oscillations of the ball, establishing, breaking, then
revising the models relentlessly. I also remember the nervous and exciting moments
of the final round of Korea Young Physicists’ Tournament, where I showed the presentation
of my six-month research and debated with the opponent team and judges. Moreover,
the research is not finished: its spin seems to demonstrate the effects of the
Earth’s spin. Floating Ping-Pong ball certainly has a huge meaning in my high
school life.
3.Hip-hop
I
have listened to hip-hop for more than four years. I possess more than thirty
albums, and listen to almost every work of underground hip-hop musicians. Elaborate
manipulation of language on the strong, vibrant beats fascinates me. Its
spirits greatly influenced my attitude to life.
4.Independence
As
a student who lives in a dormitory, I try to be independent. I complete my business
by my own, and reject to be interfered by others. Some people might view this
as stubbornness, but I believe that independence generally had a positive role
on my life. For example, while all the other kids went to expensive hakwons to
get 5 on APs, I declared to my mother that I will study alone and prove my
legitimacy of independence by results. Guess what, I got 5’s on all six
subjects I had taken!
5.Straightforwardness
Straightforwardness
is one of the hip-hop spirits that formed my character. I despise hypocrisy: I
cannot speak with sweet flatteries only to please others. In other words, I
cannot deceive myself. This made me sometimes seem disobedient to the sunbaes
because I frankly disparaged their dogmatic behaviors. However, I do believe
that straightforward people are trustworthy because their words and behaviors
always reflect their true emotions and thoughts.
6.Snapback
Snapback
cap is my favorite fashion. I used to wear my flat-brimmed cap on whenever I go
outside. I have four caps, and one of them is from the rapper Jay Park. I
caught his cap when he threw it to the crowd in a concert. Well, I look cool
when I wear it, don't I? Look at my profile picture!
7.Mr.
Kim Yon Soo
Mr.
Kim is the guide teacher of our physics research club Hyewoomnarae, and one of
the people who influenced me the most. He gave me one of the biggest ordeals in
my life. His insults on my fundamental personalities were simply unbearable. However
I cannot deny that those ordeals made me stronger and brought positive changes on
me. Although I still am afraid of him, I might sincerely thank him one day. Well,
everybody except me says so.
8.Minjok
Music Magazine
Minjok
Music Magazine, or ‘3M’, is a music column magazine club. We wrote articles of
anything about hip-hop and rock music in our blogs, and gathered and published them
as a form of online magazine each week. As the vice president of the club, I wrote
passionately. By writing those articles regularly, I could understand the
hip-hop music more deeply and broadly. I also enjoyed sharing feelings and
opinions with those who comment on my articles. Our club also had street
performances, blending rock and hip-hop music. This is my blog: http://blog.naver.com/horraywwkd
9.Basketball
– middle school friends
Basketball
court has always been a place of passion and true friendship. Most of my best
friends are my basketball teammates, both in middle school and high school. Men
exert biggest energy when they bang on each other and share sweat. True
friendship forms when we absolutely believe our teamwork and pass the ball to
each other. Basketball is still the most efficient way to get rid of the mental
stress.
10.Tutoring
I
have always enjoyed tutoring my friends. In middle school I was a 24-hours-available
private math instructor of my friend. I even drew geometry pictures on wet taxi
windows to answer his question via phone. Partly due to my effort, the tens
digit of his math score changed from 6 to 9. In high school I taught physics to
nine of my friends in MPT(Minjok Peer Tutoring), and one of them even achieved
the 1st place, while I was the 2nd. Anyway I have always
been a passionate and effective tutor who satisfied my peer pupils.
11.Juggling
Juggling
is one of my special talents. I learned juggling in a elementary school club, and
had big and small performances. The biggest one was held in the Seoul National
Park, and the smallest one was in a nursing home, for community service.
Although now I do not have official performances these days, having such skill is
still a great advantage, in that I at least have something to do at a talent
show.
12.Responsibility
As
a president or a vice president of more than three clubs, and as a participant
of numerous group projects, responsibility has been a quality most needed to me
during KMLA life. I believe I had enough responsibility to lead all those clubs
and group projects, diligently working and sometimes sacrificing my comfort.
13.Earphone
I
used to listen to music with earphone very loudly. My roommates sometimes
advise me to reduce the volume, but I still cannot relinquish the joy of
feeling the intense base drum of hardcore hip-hop songs. It feels as if I, not
the rapper, am shouting loudly, and getting rid of all kinds of burden. I’m
just worried if I should wear a hearing aid when I become old.
14.Petition
of appeal
I
am very proud of myself to having been the first person to submit petition of
appeal on the school court and be declared innocent. I was wrongly accused by
the houseparent, so I submitted the final defending speech. However, the court
rejected it because I had no evidence that I was innocent. I went indignant and
submitted a 1000-word essay as a petition of appeal, which mentioned about the fundamental
rules the judiciary must keep, such as the principle of legality. This was revolutionary
because the petition of appeal system existed but was never practically used. In
the second trial I was declared innocent, and I won at the end.
15.Math
As
a science and math kid, I have listened to the most difficult math classes in
KMLA, such as linear algebra, abstract algebra, and differential equations. Mr.
Hinde often gave us extremely challenging problems in quizzes, and I enjoyed
striving to find the right answer with the shortest solution. Math is also a
big part of my academics.
16.Slow-jam
While
I listened to hip-hop I naturally became accustomed to another genre of black
music: slow jam. Slow jam is slow and sticky music of sexy lyrics and
atmosphere. It really fits my taste. I enjoy letting myself sway free inside
its groove and sexy mood. D’Angelo and Frank Ocean are famous foreign slow jam
artists
17.Jaw
line
Jaw
line is my body part which I am very confident of. It is as sharp and straight
as a razor blade. It completes my beautiful profile.
18.Nose bleed
Since I was a little child I suffered from
rhinitis. My nose became weak because I blew my nose so hard and often. My nose
bleeds not only when I am extremely fatigued but also when cold water touches
my face. Once in two days my nose bleeds when I wash my face at the morning. Especially
in test periods my nose easily bleeds and disturbs me.
19.Has-been
I was once named as a number-one physics and
math genius, a brilliant past. However, as I entered KMLA, I had to study many
more subjects other than physics and math. Moreover, I met many kids much
smarter than me. Now nobody calls me a genius anymore. Those who had called me
genius now call me a has-been. I simply admit for this is the position I am
supposed to be, but the nickname ‘has-been’ stirs complex feelings.
20.Haptic phone
My
nickname is ‘haptic phone’, for I turn on only by ‘touch’. I am a deep sleeper,
especially at mornings, and it is impossible for me to wake up by hearing an
alarm. My roommates have suffered from waking me up because the only way was to
physically hit me hard. When I half-consciously woke up, they yelled “Get up,
you stupid haptic phone!”
21.Internet
cartoon
Internet
cartoon is one of my pastime hobbies. Every day cartoons of various genres are
updated on the portal site ‘Naver’, and I subscribe about eight of them daily.
It takes about 30 minutes every day to read them, and I know this is a big
waste of time, but I cannot but keep reading it. It is a significant party of
my daily life.
22.Bouncy
ball
‘Bouncy
ball’ is a phone game I have been doing for about six months every honjeong period.
My friends wonder when I will be tired of this game and play another one.
However, as consistently as I am, the game is regularly updated and new stages appear
again and again, so I cannot stop playing until the update finishes. This game explicitly
shows my stubbornness, and perhaps, to a very positive-minded person, perseverance.
23.Guilty
‘Guilty’
is the title of my favorite song in singing rooms. I perfectly memorize the
lyrics and can sing and rap fairly well. I even performed this song with a
friend in Minjok festival. It is a song of a man’s parting words to his
girlfriend, spitting out the complaints he have had.
24.Mental
stress
As
an ordinary high school senior, I have a lot of mental stress. Part of it comes
from enormous workload, and the other part comes from the pressure of college
application. Sometimes my parents contribute to this stress. I sometimes feel
myself becoming more nervous and impetuous. I should try to resolve it by
positive thinking and hobbies.
25.Love
It
is so lucky to be able to include love in this list. Although love sometimes
does bring me into trouble, generally, it is always a source of invigoration, motivation,
and refreshment. It follows with other beautiful values such as trust, patience,
dream, and consideration. It gives lesson every day and guides me to be a more
mature person. Although the school prohibits it, love is still a beautiful
quality.
26.Last
farewell party
Last
farewell party is one of the moments that come into mind when I think of
happiness. I had to part with my middle school earlier than other kids because
KMLA opened semester on February. At my last day, my classmates prepared a
surprise party for me. When I entered the classroom knowing nothing, the
classroom was filled with balloons and there was a cake on a desk and there
were messages to me on the chalkboard. It took me a while to realize that this
party was for me. I was so moved and swore to myself that I will never forget these
friends. I realized that I was a beloved one. It was certainly one of the
happiest moments in my life.
27.SIGMA
Community service
SIGMA
is a community service club that teaches elementary school children math and science.
I taught math to 13-years-old kids. Although they were easily distracted and
were far from smart, I enjoyed arousing their curiosities and seeing their beautiful
limpid eyes. As a vice president of the club, I passionately taught the kids
and improved the club’s system. Even now I am planning to make an effective
teaching material for the club.
28.Galaxy
TAB
It
is very unusual to use a huge 7-inch tablet as a phone. Therefore my Galaxy TAB
has been some kind of my symbol for two years. Although its size seems overly
big, it surprisingly fits into most of the pockets, and big screen offers great
convenience. Now it is too old: it often malfunctions and is being
disintegrated. It does not gather my friends’ attention anymore. However, I still
feel affection for this gigantic cell phone.
29.Fingers
My
fingers are really pretty. They are also the body parts I am proud of, as well
as my jaw line. My fingers are long, and fingernails are round and handsome.
Even those who say I’m ugly may not be able to deny the beauty of my fingers.
30.Friends
and family
The
most banal cliché ever, but it is still so true that my friends and family are
people who influenced me the most. I always learn a lot from relations with
them. I often feel grateful to the love and care they provide to me, and feel
sorry that I do not compensate enough. They are really precious in my lives.
