Shooting Beyond the Stars

haiping

Shooting Beyond the Stars

　  <大中报>编者按: 没有人会否认每代人之间存在者鸿沟！对于中国移民的下一代，我们所面临的不仅是时代造成的两代人之间的代沟，我们还面临者两种不同的文化所造成的思想距离。当我们在饭桌上与下一代的对话以“Never Mind！”结束时，我们是否问过自己：我们对下一代了解多少？

　　从本周开始，我们将陆续刊登几篇由ANOM KIDS中英文双语系列书推荐的、由我们的下一代所撰写的文章。我们期望读者能从这些小作者的文章中窥测一点我们的下一代的心灵。我们还期望我们的读者，尤其是我们的父母们与自己的孩子坐下来读一读这些文章，听听孩子们的心声。如果你或者你的孩子有感慨，请将你的文章或评论写给本报或ANOM KIDS中英文双语系列书。本报电邮：[email protected], ANOM KIDS电邮：[email protected]

　　This is a true story that happened in Barrie, Ontario in 2004. The story is narrated by me, CJ, while the other main character is Miriam Taylor (not her real name). This story is about Miriam's determination to "shoot for the stars" even though there were many roadblocks along the way.

　　Was there once when you see a person who dramatically turns their life around? Doesn't it just grab you on the collar, urging you to follow in that direction? That's what I felt on a sunny June day when I listened to my friend, Miriam* as she described the metamorphosis she went through in just 3 months.

　　The story starts in March, when most people would be rejoicing over the return of spring. Yet Miriam, who didn't really want to achieve high in school, came over to me almost tear-strained, declaring she needed help. When I asked her what was wrong, she spilled the beans: she was most likely going to stay behind a year.

　　I was shocked. "But…" I thought to myself. She wasn't brilliant in school, but she wasn't dumb either. "So, what's gonna happen? Did you tell your parents yet?" I asked her.

　　She gave me a blank face. "My parents? They're gonna be…" she paused, "…so mad at me!" She looked so desperate, and I felt so sorry for her. She continued, miserably "And Ms. Belanger wants to meet my mom on Wednesday."

　　I gave her a reassuring smile. "Well, I hope your mom won't get mad at you. She'll probably understand." Inside I thought, uh oh.

　　Later that night, my phone rang. I picked it up; it was Miriam. "So, how'd it go with your mom and dad?" I asked, curious.

　　She let out a sigh. "My dad doesn't know," she replied, then added, quietly "…thankfully. He would be totally mad at me."

　　After talking about this a few minutes more, we changed subjects. Even though it wasn't evident, I did see that she was trying to improve. "I'll see ya at school tomorrow" was the phrase that proved it. Before Ms. Belanger talked to her, her last sentence would most likely be, "I feel really sick so I don't think I'll be coming to school tomorrow." I said good night to her and went to sleep.

　　Over the next few weeks, I saw Miriam regularly attend classes, participating in class, and she even confided to me that her marks went up. But the misery still remains. She wasn't able to attend the grade 8 year-end field trip with the rest of us. When we practiced for graduation night and talked about our dresses and finery, she stood silent, looking downcast. Ms. Belanger had told her that no matter how much her marks improved, staying for another year couldn't hurt her school habits. She looked so disappointed at the prospect. The grade 7s that she knew may or may not laugh at her next year, thinking her dumb.

　　Even though getting refused to graduate and having to face humiliation, Miriam went through it cheerfully, helping us graduates as much as she could. She helped prepare the graduation brochures, and helped tremendously with the graduations for our underwater theme. She gave up her time selflessly, dedicating it on her classmates and her friends. I felt really touched. Although those events were very touching, nothing prepared me for what happened Graduation Night. There we were, all of us girls in our gowns and our hair up high. All of the boys in their tuxes and their hair gelled. It was a hilarious scene to look at if it were not for the nervous jitters in our stomachs. During most of the ceremony, I was so nervous something might go wrong. My butterflies were getting worse and worse. Yet after I received my certificate and my merits, when I had to walk around the audience, I saw Miriam sitting near the aisle, in a dress she had bought especially for this occasion. She was smiling through tears and giving high fives to all the graduates. I felt so touched! Putting myself in her place, I would probably never have the courage to do that. I would've probably slunk into some seat that's in the middle somewhere, so that the graduating people won't see me. Or, I might even be sulking at home, crying about the injustice that I wasn't able to be up there with all my friends and fellow classmates. It was amazing for a person to be able to swallow embarrassment and move on to do something positive. It was such great astonishment that when I got back to my seat, the puzzlement and bewilderment lingered in my mind. I have to say it was one of the most bittersweet things in my whole grade 8 career. When the night progressed, everyone felt like this was more like goodbye rather than a celebratory party. We all gave hugs and parting words. Even though Miriam did not graduate, she was still allowed to come to the graduating class dance afterwards. When they played my favorite song at the dance, I began to cry. All the goodbyes were too overwhelming. The goodbye to Miriam, especially, was the saddest one. I was still going to see her in the summer, but it was just the magic of the whole evening that made this goodbye more sweet and special. You see, even though Miriam wasn't very high achieving at the beginning, when she realized her personal worth and her capabilities, she wasn't afraid to express her true self even though those waters were very rough waters.

Author: CJ is in grade 9 at Bear Creek Secondary School. She was born in Beijing, China on January, 1990. Her favorite song is "erfect" by Simple Plan, her favorite singer is Christina Aguilera, and her favorite ice cream is hazelnut. She lives in Barrie, Ontario with her family.

<大中报>第894期 July 16 2004