My Big Brother

Elizabeth Lee, Age 14
San Jose CA
California School of Art & Design

Winner-- A Complete Person

Eleanor Chen, Age 12
San Francisco CA
A.P. Giannini Middle School

Swoosh! The badminton birdie soared up in the air and suddenly, it swooped down even faster. I was still standing at the back of the court shocked that my opponent would be able to return my previous signature slam of the birdie. Suddenly, I came back to my senses and dashed as fast as my legs could take me towards the birdie. I knew it was going to land right in front of the net on my side and that thought made me run even faster. Beads of sweat trickled down my burning cheeks but I kept on running. Just as I reached the birdie, it dropped to the ground. It was too late. Thump. My heart skipped a beat and it felt very heavy. Silence filled the bleachers and I swelled up with anger. I couldn't believe I had just lost. My opponent, Melissa, skipped over to me and extended her hand to shake mine. I was so outraged that I just turned my back on her and left without saying a word.

After the competition, I focused only on how I could beat Melissa at the rematch. When my friends called, I ignored them. I had dinner away from my family and avoided everyone for the rest of the week. The memory of that last shot was imprinted in my memory. The image frightened me every time it played over and over again in my mind. Melissa was such a good player that I thought my only hope of winning the rematch was to slam the birdie directly on her forehead. I was so convinced to actually do it until two days before the rematch. It was at that time that I had a talk with my mom. My mom is a typical Chinese mom - one who loves to share her wisdom and experiences with me. She took out a piece of paper and wrote down two Chinese characters. She told me that the two Chinese characters were qiân xû. My mom further explained to me "in Chinese the first character means "modest". The second means "empty". Together these characters reinforce the ideas of modesty and being empty of ego. This can also be translated as humbleness. Winning is not everything," she told me, "How you win and how you develop into a person is just as important." At first, I thought that wasn't true. I took a moment to take it all in. After a while, I realized my mom was right. I thought about how I had been acting these past few days and instantly regretted it. It was then that I learned sportsmanship. I had been so unfair to Melissa and I had to make it up to her somehow. First, I decided that I would have to get to know her better. I knew that Melissa always practiced badminton at the community recreation center. So, I walked there and there she was. It seemed like she was practicing hard but when she saw me approaching her, she stopped what she was doing and smiled. I was relieved that she didn't take in any offense from our last match. I told Melissa how I felt and she understood and forgave me. For the next two days, we played badminton together and both did our best. I couldn't believe how much we had in common. We learned from each other and within those two days, we were both a lot better than when we started. We had united both our skills and become a complete player. We learned from each other's mistakes and just had a really fun time playing. Winning wasn't all that important anymore. Rivalry has a good side and a bad side. The good side is that it gives you a challenge to go out and accomplish. This can help you make new friends. The bad thing about rivalry is that feelings could get hurt and you may lose a friend. This experience definitely allowed me to gain a new friend. By this time, I knew that her weakness was running from one end the court all the way to the other end. She could never make it in time. I took this to my advantage during the rematch.

Swoosh! I hit the birdie to the right of the court. It was the day of the rematch and the score was tied. The game was intense and the crowd was always shrieking with pleasure every now and then at the close calls. Melissa barely returned my hits. I raced over to return her hits with sweat dripping off my forehead. Then, I hit the birdie to the very far left. I was using my strategy. Melissa lunged toward the birdie and almost missed it. But, she returned my hit and she swung swiftly sending the birdie high into the sky. I was prepared for this, a strategy that I had learned from Melissa. I got ready and swung just as the birdie came in front of me. Tension was rising in the crowd and both Melissa and I wore wide grins on our faces. This win wouldn't be easy for either of us. When the birdie came back to my side, I angled my racket to the left and when I hit, the birdie was sent flying towards the left of the court. Melissa was standing by the far right side of the court. She struggled to get to the birdie in time. All eyes were on her. But, it was too late. The birdie plopped to the ground and the game was over. I smiled. I had just won. The lessons we had taught each other made us into a complete person, which was more than being just a winner. I ran over to Melissa. She looked happy and I embraced her gratefully. She congratulated me and we shook hands. I was so glad that this rivalry did not make us lose our friendship, but rather had formed a strong friendship bond between Melissa and me.

Being Asian makes me look at competition in a different perspective than those who are not Asian. I have typical Asian parents who always "push" me on. Most of the time the "push" is by encouragement, but there are times that the "push" are actually expectations. I always aim for the best and have high expectations for myself. In a competition, I'm determined to win. Now I have learned that not only are there the typical Asian expectation and pressure to win, I am also expected to win with grace and be a humble person. I also must accept losing with grace too. Only after I realized that did I become a complete person. After my badminton competition, I have learned sportsmanship and the skills it takes to win. This experience has made me into a complete person - a victorious, proud, graceful and humble Asian American winner.

My Special World

Lexi Yan Wong, Age 6
San Francisco CA
Cornerstone Academy

Learn from Each Other

Serena Ying , 2nd Grade
Saratoga CA
Argonaut Elementary SchoolSerena Ying , 2nd Grade
Saratoga
Argonaut Elementary School

Change

Katie Jun-eun Kim , 11th Grade
Cupertino CA
Cupertino High School

Making Educational Changes for a More Perfect World

Mary Xu, 12th Grade
San Francisco CA
Balboa High School

The world is a place filled with amazing people, places, and things. Yet it is also growing with social, economic, and political problems. Growing up Asian American, I feel like my experience in this world is different from other Asians around the world and even within the nation. I am a first generation Chinese living in America, with immigrant parents struggling to keep up a small business in the economic recession. There are many other Asian Americans like me who have immigrant parents, but the difference is that I grew up with different elements in my life which have influenced my individual thoughts about the larger world. If I were able to make the world a better place, I would make education (especially higher education) available to all people—not just children, but even adults who were never given the opportunity to read or write.

I grew up in a household where education is highly valued, as both of my grandparents were educators in China. They taught during the Cultural Revolution and were imprisoned for being “threats” to the government due to being capable in influencing students’ beliefs. For a year, my father and his three siblings had to take care of themselves while their education was also interrupted. The education in China during that time was rather limited. My father consistently placed at the top of his class every year in high school, but suddenly the Communist regime cut his path towards higher academic success short. He could not pursue his dream to major in Business in college because the Communist government mandated that a high school education was enough for him. It is because of these kinds of injustices that my parents decided to come to America and start a small restaurant which they have owned for over twenty years now. These injustices drive me to make education more available to everyone. It is upsetting and unbelievable that anyone would say that it is fair to confine an aspiring student to a limited education. Understanding the background my parents and grandparents come from is the greatest influence on my goal of implementing equal and functional educational systems worldwide.

Education is the foundation which propels an individual towards success. The definition of success is different for everyone, but I believe that learning in general is essential in helping one define success for oneself. There are countless areas in the world where literacy levels are very low—especially West African countries—and it hurts women the most due to gender disparities. As a woman myself, I do not think it is just to limit women from their own dreams, but cultural upbringing has a huge influence on gender roles. Even though my culture also reserves more rights to males, that only furthers my interest in advocating women’s educational rights. As I stated before, it is upsetting that some people believe that certain individuals deserve an education more than others. I believe it is my responsibility as a student to spread knowledge to other parts of the world with people who need it most.

Low literacy levels are associated with poverty and numerous social, economic, and political problems. Fixing this serious problem will open up many more options for children and adults who want to pursue their dreams. The most important thing in making the world a better place is making sure there is a unified happiness, which may seem unattainable, but it is not impossible. Even making a small change would be a step closer to achieving worldwide change. Change is an act that develops—it does not happen instantly. By being a part of buildOn, a non-profit organization with students dedicated to volunteering in the community, educating others about global issues, and sponsoring the construction of schools in developing countries, I am empowered to make changes in my community that affect the world as a whole. I have committed a lot of my time to cleaning up parks, sorting packages at food pantries, and serving those in need within San Francisco. In buildOn, I have helped raise money to build a school in Mali, West Africa. Slowly, but surely, I wish to instill hope in potential students that it is still possible for them to achieve their personal dreams.
As an Asian American woman, my experiences are important because they are the mechanisms that power my heart, mind and soul to bring educational justice in developing countries. Knowledge of my family’s educational background produced questioning about the accessibility of education in our world today. Being a part of an organization that provides insightful information about literacy levels in the world draws my attention to developing countries. I do not plan to fix unjust educational systems alone; successful change is developed by a collective community. The future ahead will be a bright one for everyone if we all work together to make the privilege of an education a universal human right.