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| “I want to be a police. I’ll find the robbers because they have handkerchiefs on their faces. I’ll tell them that it’s bad to steal. And to never steal again. Then I’ll hit them with a stick and their mom and dad will yell at them. And if they don’t listen, I’ll hit them with a stick again." |
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| “I didn’t get accepted into any of the universities that I wanted, and I ended up going to a lesser quality school. I hated being there. On the first day, I thought about buying a plane ticket and going home. I felt like I had nothing in common with the people around me. I felt like they belonged and I didn’t. My plan was just to survive-- get through six lectures a day, keep to myself, and get back to my dorm room as soon as possible. I didn’t even talk to my own roommate. I’m ashamed of it now. I was so rude and self-centered, and it ended up making me lonely and miserable. I felt depressed. I was barely sleeping. Then one night I overheard my roommate talking on the phone with her mother. And I could tell she was having family problems. After she hung up, we stayed up all night talking. I told her that I was having a hard time too. She became my best friend after that night. We’d have dinner together. Whenever I left the room, she’d ask me where I was going. It felt so good to have someone worry about me. It’s been an important six months for me. I’ve realized how much I need other people. By not valuing the people around me, I was only hurting myself.” |
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| “My sons used to protect me from my husband. He’s an alcoholic and he becomes violent when he drinks. He beat me so bad once that it injured my spine. My sons used to stand beside me. They’d try to stop it. They’d scream at him not to hit me. Then afterward they’d comfort me. But they’re teenagers now and they’re starting to go down the same path. They stay out drinking until 3 AM. I can’t get them to wake up in the morning. Today they got in a fight and one of them punched his fist through a window. There was blood everywhere. I came out here to calm down but my hands are still shivering. I don’t know what to do. I ask them to stop drinking but they won’t listen. There’s nothing left for me. I gave them life, I guess that’s all I can do.” |
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| “I always sat in the first row. I always had the highest rank in class. I wanted to be a teacher, just like my teachers. But when it was time to enroll in grade seven, my mother told me we couldn’t afford it. I cried and begged but she just stayed silent. My teachers were so sad that they offered to pay half of the tuition. But it wasn’t enough because we'd still have to pay for the books and exams. So my mother made me understand that school was not in my luck. I’m still seventeen, but now I’m married and I work as a maid for a family. I wash their clothes, wash their dishes, clean their bathroom. Their house is near a school. So every morning I have to watch the children walk by in their uniforms.” |
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| “I have a big book about tiger conservation, and I always knew that the ocean was in trouble. But I didn’t really become an environmentalist until I got to grade one. That’s when I thought of many interesting ways to help. Some things you can do are reduce waste, carpool more often, spread awareness, plant trees, not cut trees, cut carbon emissions, and reduce nuclear disposal. I’m too young to start nuclear disposal because it’s dangerous and I don’t have the proper gloves. But I do recycle and keep plants on my balcony.” |
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| "My mom made me a birthday dress!" |
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