In the past two months, we learned a lot of grammar and writing techniques in English literacy. The biggest part of Literacy for me was writing a narrative essay on the theme of “becoming of age.” I wrote about how coming out of my comfort zone and keep experiencing new things. You can read my narrative below:
I wish I could travel back in time. When I was younger, I felt weak and scared and preferred the safety of my comfort zone. I wish I could have changed myself and had the confidence to allow for new experiences. I wish I could have been better than who I am now.
I am a little kid who likes to play just like the other kids, but I was distinct of being shy and scared. I used to be that person who tried to hide in his comfort shell and scared of taking risks in any situations. I used to try to avoid any situations that involve talking to strangers. When I was in 2nd grade, a volunteer came into our class to spent her day with us, my classmates were introducing themselves to the volunteer and while my classmates were introducing themselves, I sneaked out, ran to the bathroom and waited until everyone finished. Moreover, I was always a shy student in the class. I don’t ask questions, also not answering any questions even though I knew the answers. I wouldn’t be so shy to answer or ask questions if my friends had stopped laughing at me when I try to ask or answer any questions.
My parents recognized the problem about me as well, they knew that I am a shy kid. One evening, when I was about to leave the dinner table, my father said a few words that stuck in my mind since then. He said “ It’s not bad to be laughed at, and you don’t have to be scared of anything because you are a strong kid. ” These words from my dad have changed my life and inspired me to live without regrets. When I go through fear, there was one thing that always came to my mind, my family. Whenever I think of them and the words from my dad, it is like a beacon that guides me through the dark and gets me to do things that I scared of doing.
In addition to my family, Liger changed my life. When I first came to Liger school, I saw the other kids, talking to each other and having fun. I was scared. I didn’t know those people. I talked to only one kid on my first day at Liger, and it was Chhoue. But after I saw the other kids having fun talking to each other, I was jealous. I wanted to be like them. After a few months observing the other kids, it encouraged me to be brave. I saw the other students stood up and answered questions, and talking to foreign teachers. I was really scared to talk to the teachers because my English was terrible, so I scared of people making fun of me when I talk, even though I knew that Liger’s students would not laugh at me. I talked to my family about these issues I had and my father keeps telling me the same things. “It’s not bad to be laughed at, and you don’t have to be scared of anything because you are a strong kid.” It was a tough night for me, I was promising myself and my family that I will go up to those foreign teachers and try to talk to them. On the next morning, I was so prepared. I came up with different lines such as: how are you? I am fine, thank you. Where are you going? etc. I walked to school with some of my friends and I wanted to be the brave one to go up and talk to the foreign teachers. I was really nervous so I messed up the words that I prepared and mumbled through the whole conversation, but the teacher was really nice she helped me corrected all those words. After the conversation, I felt like I just a billion dollar lottery. It was not hard and bad as I thought. I built my courage since then, I became less feared talking to the teachers.
Even though I got less scared talking to the teachers at Liger, I was still scared talking to strangers. It was my second year at Liger when I walked home a lot of friends were talking a Sharation at a place called DI. It was really strange because Liger never had a Sharation outside of school before. On the Sharation day, we were preparing our materials and loaded onto the bus. When we arrived at DI, everyone was busy setting up tables for their booth. Our teachers told us that it was not just a Sharation, it was also for students to talk to businessman and different people. I was shocked and my heart was beating faster the speed of light. I was nervous. I did not want to get out of my comfort zone. I did not want to talk to strangers. After 30 minutes into the event, there were tons of strange faces around me. I went and sit down behind my booth for the purpose of hiding from talking to those strangers. I looked around and saw my friends talking to strangers, I felt nervous for them but they seemed fine and they looked like they were having fun. Finally, I decided to go up and talk to a guy, and he was a foreigner. I talked to him and the whole conversation was me asking him questions and he telling me about his experience in his life. Soon, my friends joined me and I just get more comfortable. I learned about that guy, it was a breathtaking to experience talking to a person I did not know.
In the time that I turned 12 years old, till now I don’t even want to get out of my comfort zone. Even though I experienced through lots of things but sometimes I can’t do it and I’ll be better than who I am today if I did a lot of things that I was not good at. “You can only grow if you are willing to feel awkward and uncomfortable when you try something new,” Brian Tracy. Sometimes not getting out of things that I’m comfortable with doing and not try doing things that I’m not good at, limited my skills and also opportunities. Things could happen all the time. I was a shy person and I was not comfortable to go up to strangers and introduce myself and start conversations. Getting out of my comfort shell is part of who I am today, it is my becoming of age. It helped me grew confidence and became more mature by experiencing new things.
