My daughter Becky graduated from Washington High School in June. During the graduation ceremony, one of her classmates gave a simple speech that I will always remember. She talked about the "givers" of this world. She said, "You will be a success if you make another person smile. If you are friendly to someone who needs a little help, you will get an ‘A'!"
After the ceremony, when all of the students were outside the hall trying to find their parents and friends, a man and his wife came to me and asked if I was Becky's mom. I said yes and the man handed me a gift and began to tell me how much they appreciated Becky's kindness to their daughter, Jessica, during the school sports meeting the week before.
Jessica's left leg was hurt and she was unable to finish the uphill race. Becky was worried about her and kept going back to check on her leg. Jessica's dad told me that Becky had shown more concern for his daughter than the coach, and that he and his wife would never forget her kindness. Of course, I had tears in my eyes. I was so proud of my daughter.
I asked him, "So, does Becky get an 'A'?" He just smiled and said," She gets an 'A'!"
On the first day of school, the new teacher had a look at the name list of students. How (please) she was!
Guess what she found? After each student's name, there was a number 138,140, 154 and so on.
"Look at these high IQ(智商) students," she thought to (she). "They've given me a wonderful class!"
As result, the excited teacher worked (hard) with this class than with her other classes. She tried some new (teach) ways. She thought these ways would cheer the students hold their interest. She was right. It worked well! The class did much (well) than any of her other classes.
Later, however, she found out the (true), the number after each name did not mean the IQ, the number of his or her clothing box in the school.
Meiyu, born in 1991, is from Turkey (土耳其) , She is the youngest child of her family. After high school, many people learned English or Japanese, but Meiyu decided to learn Chinese in university. She learned Chinese for four years in Ankara University in Turkey, and got her name Meiyu there.
Meiyu fell in love with Chinese after going to university. She became more interested after she knew more about Chinese history. In the beginning many people did not understand her decision. But they all said Meiyu had made a right choice when she graduated from university in 2013. Since then, more Chinese have been visiting Turkey. The trade between the two countries also requires Chinese speaking people. "Speaking Chinese means more job opportunities," said Meiyu.
Now Meiyu has been in Wuhan, China for about two years. Besides going on studying Chinese, she shows great interest in Chinese kung fu as well, so she spends her free time on kung fu training with her coaches. Not only can kung fu help improve her health, but she is also fascinated by the history and culture behind it. Meiyu said, "The more I know about China, the luckier I feel to have been here. But the truth is that fun and pain go together in the process of learning."
Meiyu will graduate in June this year. Her friends want her to stay in China, but her parents hope she can come back home. Meiyu thinks it is difficult to decide. "Even if I go back to Turkey, I will choose Chinese language education as my job," said Meiyu.