The studiousness, the hard work of a foreign exchange student, translated…
Every time the bell for the first period rang, the originally solitary classroom, would have this small-framed shadow, she’d always been the first to sit down, and, through the reflected light from the windows, her hair looked, black as the nights, looking over, there were, freckles on her fair-looking face, she was about 5’4, with the wheaten colored skins, although she’s not especially beautiful, but there’s this attraction to her, that scent of warmth from her. I’d originally thought that she’s like the rest of us, but after we’d become friends, I’d learned that she was from the southern passionate island nation—Malaysia.
not my photograph…
She’s the new transfer student to the class this semester, originally she’d not held high hopes for continuing her education, due to her household economics, but because of a chance encounter, a college professor had helped her apply for a scholarship, and she’d taken the freshly-received scholarship money, flown overseas to Taiwan. Her dream was to finish her studies here, then, find a steady job to sustain herself, so she’d studied really hard in class, and treated everybody else with kindness and courtesy. Everybody loved her very much, and, whether it be the coursework, or on life, that her classmates had, she’d always shared her belief, and how she’d resolved the problems herself to her classmates, and it’d made us understand the differences of culture, and we’d worked hard, pushing each other to mature, to learn. Every week, she’d asked us all out to take a stroll at her favorite night market, I remember once, we’d taken her to a famous stinky bean curd stand, but at the whiff of that scent, her face changed colors, and she’d started frowning, seemed to want to tell us no, but, she couldn’t turn down our passionate invitations, and, took her unsteady chopsticks, took a bite, then, she’d started hollering, “It tastes, so delicious!”, it’d made us all laugh.
She has amazing language abilities, other than Malay and Chinese, she’s also very fluent in English AND Japanese. Once the class signed her up for the newscaster program hosted by the school, it’d accidentally sparked her interest for working as a news anchor, the segment she was on air was made into a video, and burned into DVDs, which was sent back to Malaysia to her families.
not my photo…
She’s a very straightforward person too, she’d never been able to hide her emotions, once halfway through lunch, she’d realized, that the fish in her lunch tray tasted just like her mother’s cooking, she’d started crying, and started missing her home. From time to time, late in the nights, I’d passed her lab, and found that the lights were still on, I’d realized, that she’s working hard at studying, for the sake of her own scholarship for the next semester; seeing the assortment of coupons overflowing her desk, I’d come to understand, how much pressures and stresses she must be facing, as a foreign exchange student, and in order to stay in the beloved Taiwan, she’d had to work, even harder, than the rest of us.
Every time I saw her getting out of the classrooms, although she’s slim, there was this flair, this power that she carried with her, there’s this kind of zest flowing out of her, I’d wanted to tell her, “Good job, girl from a foreign land, one day, your dreams will come true, making all who loves you proud!”
And so, from this, you can see, the hardships that this woman who’s from Malaysia faces here, she’d needed to study very hard, to keep her grades up, and at the same time, she’d needed to worry about money, and yet, she still manages very well, and, it’s with this kind of hardworking mannerism, that this young woman will be a huge success in life!
Life, the Obstacle Course 