-> Prophecy <-

On the tenth of January, a cry of a newborn baby girl broke the chilly morning air. The healthy baby lay peacefully in the hospital near Taipei City, Taiwan. She was getting prepared for all the fruitful events and challenges waiting for her in the future---which is the story of my life. I was born in a loving family, my mom, dad, and sister treated me like a precious treasure since the day I was born. Even though I am the youngest in the family, they always respect my feelings and listen to my opinions. Therefore, I never feel left out in a family discussion. They teach me many things I do not learn at school, like how to deal with feelings and relationships. When I face difficulties, my family is always there to cheer me on.

      My family means the world to me, but friendship definitely holds a place in my heart. Throughout my life, friends have kept me company at school, shared thoughts with me, and also been there for me when I was in low spirits. I really want to do the same for them. When I see a friend in need, I won’t hesitate to give out a hand. I think this is the true meaning of friendship. However, if I had the ability, I’d do everything in my power for those in need, too. I’ve always thought that if you are willing to give a hand, a hand will always be there to reach back for you.

      I like to enrich my knowledge, thus whenever I have free time, I like to bury myself in books and novels. I like to hear stories of other people and learn from their experiences. Reading is a great way to relax and let my mind run wild. In the process of receiving education, I’ve learned much more than just school academic studies. Our teachers often give us moral classes in addition to the ordinary math and English, etc. I have to admit, students in Taiwan stay long hours in classrooms and cram schools. Sometimes it feels like endless hours of fatigue, but when I look back at the load of knowledge I have learned, I am filled with joy. The good grades I get at school also make my parents beam with pride, and that is a great motivation. In both junior high school and senior high school, I got the opportunities to represent my schools to compete in the Taipei English Speech Competition. I put a lot of effort into preparing, and I was quite happy I could bring honor to my school. In 10^th grade, I devoted time into a school club called Flowinds, a student ambassador club. When foreign guests visited our school, we would give presentations and take them on tours. The chance of being our club’s vice president and my class’s president was a tremendous stepping stone to improvement and leadership. With so many exciting events, school days were never dull. Rather, they flew by, leaving me a lot of precious memories.

      In junior high school, I had a dream of becoming a biotechnology researcher. However, after I pondered long and deeply about the stressful hours in the laboratories, I started thinking about other options. My sister chose business in her university years, and it worked out quite well for her. She is a really good role model and has a great influence on me. Eventually, I decided to take business related courses during university and hopefully be part of a good company in the future. After graduating from university, I’d love to study abroad. I think that pursuing a higher degree overseas can not only broaden my horizon, but also help me become more independent. Presently, my main goal is to get into a good university; therefore, focusing on my academic studies is my top priority.

      I think I’m quite optimistic in many ways. To me, the glass of water is always at least half full. Life, both my own or others, is something we should cherish with our hearts. There are so many people in this world that are less fortunate than I, so I should be grateful for whatever I own. I expect that at an old age I will look back at my life and smile without any regrets.

My first choice was to share some photos from our graduation trip, which was during April 9^th ~12^th, but some of my friends will be doing that, so I changed my theme to school life in Taiwan.  Nevertheless, don’t forget to catch our graduation photos, too!

Would you like to get a glimpse of school life in Taiwan? If you’re in for it, you can catch my Day in the Life photo diary. I would like to show you what a typical school day in Lishan Senior High school, Taipei, Taiwan is like. I won’t be in the pictures because I’d like you have a look of our school through my eyes. I will be taking photos on April 17^th, from morning to after school. Later on, I will organize the photos and also attach the schedule of that day. 

        Even though you won’t be seeing the photos from our graduation trip, you won’t be disappointed when you see our school, since it has the largest and most dazzling campus in Taiwan. There are approximately 900 students in our school (grades 10 ~12). It sounds quite a lot, but most of the schools in Taipei have over 600 students per grade, which is quite a contrast. So, we have a beautiful campus all to ourselves! 

In the photos, you will see different buildings, including our library (which looks like a clock tower). We have tennis, basketball, mini golf courts and also an indoor swimming pool. You can see all of them in my photos. There will also be photos of history, geography, physical education and project based learning classes. Don’t worry. Photos of recess and lunch time are a must! 

 I will put my photos into a PowerPoint document, along with commentaries.  You can have a look of my ordinary day. It may be ordinary to me, but I’d bet it’ll seem extraordinary to you. I hope you will enjoy tasting the school life here, at Lishan!

In a blink of an eye, a new semester has arrived.  Time really flies, before you know it, a whole year has passed.  Our entrance exams will take place in about 300 more days.  Since it will be coming so soon, I should start spending my time more wisely and grab at the chance for opportunities. 

In our second semester of our English PBL, I will continue with my English Podcast and at the same time, start a new project.  We have a few projects to choose from, but I have my eyes set on “Day in the Life Photo Diaries”.  I think it’ll be based on a single day, from waking up to going to bed.  I’m still wondering if the photos should be taken during my graduation trip, or just another regular day.  I guess I’ll think about it.  We will also be focusing on the Language Power Workbook, I think it’s quite a challenge. 

I also want to improve my English writing.  Last semester I wrote an article every week, but it doesn’t seem possible to do it anymore, because my life is already packed with cram school, homework, and tests.  Still, I think I should squeeze in some time for writing (in both English and Chinese) since it’s really important.  How I am going to manage is a big problem, though. 

Well, I really hope I’ll be able to find a way.  Time-management suddenly appears to be a real problem, but I’ll find a way. I will. : )

We've finished our first project recently and lately I've been thinking of ways to promote it.  We will probably start promoting after we have three to four podcasts, otherwise the visitors might have nothing to see!  At first, I thought of handing out fliers, but then I realized that would take a lot of paper, and I wouldn't want to owe the trees!  I also considered emailing or posting the news onto something like a communication board.  At the end, I think it's a pretty good idea to use e-cards or emails, since they don't cost much and are more convenient.