A Turning Point written by Myself :)

             “Ha! You are nothing but a loser!” Angela said, menacingly. She smirked at Cathy before throwing a piece of rock at Cathy’s head. Cathy shouted an ear piercing scream and covered her wound with her hand. “I wish I could turn back…

            First Day of School. It was quite a nervous time for Cathy for she is as timid as a mouse.She was turning 7 and she is Primary 1. She feels nervous for this and that but her parents motivate her to be strong. Cathy got ready her bag and felt nervous. “How is it going to be like? New friends, new classrooms… I hope I would make a friend already.” Cathy thought, having butterflies in her stomach.

Just then, Cathy’s mother said, “School is going to be fine. You would not need to worry. You are Mama’s brave girl right?” Cathy smiled and nodded her head. She kissed her parents goodbye and headed to Hello School with her grandfather.

 Once she reached Hello school, she waved her grandfather goodbye and as timid as a mouse, Cathy walked into the school awkwardly, not trying to have eye contact with her peers’ around her.

            Once Cathy had reached the classroom that she was allocated, a teacher walked in with a smile on her face. “Good morning, children. I am your form teacher for the whole Semester 1. My name is Ms Lim .” Ms Lim said.

Cathy and her fellow classmates greeted Ms Lim timidly and sat down. “Please introduce yourselves. Let’s start with you,” Ms Lim said, pointing at Cathy. Cathy got so nervous that she almost had fainted.

“Give a small introduction of yourself. For example, My name is Ms Lim and I love to paint and I want to be a teacher when I grow up.” Ms Lim smiled.

 Cathy timidly went up to the front of the classroom and said, “ M..m..my n…n…na…name i…is Cathy, a…a…and I l…like… t..to p..play b…bad…badminton. I…I w…want…t…to b..be a doc…doctor w…when I grow…up.” Once Cathy finished her sentence, everybody started to laugh at her. Tears rolled down Cathy’s face and she started to sniffle. Ms Lim got very angry and she shouted, “Silence! That was disrespectful! She tried her very best!” Ms Lim came up to her and whispered, “ Don’t be so saddened by them laughing at you. Next time, I am sure you are going to be more confident.”

            Motivated by those words, Cathy wiped her tears off and went back to her seat with her face turning lobster red and walked in an awkward manner. The rest of the day went pretty well and Cathy got a new friend. Her name was Cindy. Both of them had good relationships as they were family friends since Pre-school. Cindy was two years older than Cathy. They went together during recess. Just then, they heard a voice from behind, “ Hey there is Cathy! The timid mouse…” Cathy knew just then that something bad was going to happen…

            “My name is Angela and I am the most popular girl in the whole school, want to be my friend?” the voice from behind said. Cindy and Cathy turned around and saw Angela with a bunch of pupils with her. Cindy stood in front of Cathy and enraged, “ Since you called her names, I would demand a No!” Angela got furious and shoved Cindy away.

 I went to help Cindy as she was hurt. “Ha! You are nothing but a loser!” Angela said, menacingly. She smirked at Cathy before throwing a piece of rock at Cathy’s head. She shouted an ear piercing scream and covered her wound with her hand. “I wish I could turn back the time…”

Just then a teacher came and helped Cindy and Cathy up and by the time the teacher turned her head, Angela and her gang was already gone.

            When Cathy went back home, she felt her whole world upside down. She felt so sad that she went to her room and curled up in her bed. “ Cathy, are you fine? Why are you inside the room?” A voice came from outside. It was her mother.

 “ I am fine…” Cathy said, in a depressed tone. “I am coming in,” Cathy’s mother said. “ What’s wrong?” Cathy quickly blurted out the whole thing. She told about the incident that happened in class and during recess. Once she had finished, Cathy’s mother got enraged with Angela and told Cathy to come to the dining room as her food was ready. Her father was sitting there and was getting impatient, “ What took you so long to come here?” he said. Cathy’s mother quickly filled him up and Cathy’s father understood Cathy’s plight.

Cathy’s father said, “ I know that you are shy and timid so practice to be a more confident person. For example if your teacher, Ms Lim asks you to give a speech in front of your class and when you shiver with fear, your classmates laugh at you then what would you do? Cry? No, that’s not going to happen. Your mother and I are going to make you reduce your stage fright and make you more self-confident. Do not give up. Even if other people taunt you, they just want attention but you need to be much more confident than them and you can outshine the rest of the students. Then, Cathy’s mother said,“Remember, when an egg is hatched from outside, the baby inside dies. But when the egg is hatched from the inside, the baby will live. That drive must come from within you and then you can achieve greater heights. Remember you are always our brave girl.” Cathy feeling motivated, decided to work towards her goal of becoming self-confident.

Within an overnight time, she changed drastically and  she started talking to her friends in a more confident way and greeted her teachers and friends cheerfully. Within 2 months, she turned into the most confident child in her class.

            Ms Lim asked Cathy whether or not if she could give a small speech in front of the whole school. Cathy agreed, as she wanted to share with other children how to be more confident. Feeling overjoyed, during dismissal, she told everything to her mother during pick up time. Cathy and her parents began with the speech. Once it was done, Cathy felt overjoyed.

In a fortnight’s time was the speech giving time. Cathy felt butterflies in her stomach but always remembered her parents motivational words and felt much better.

            It was time. It was the day of giving the speech. Not only Cathy had to give the speech to her peers’ in the school, but also to parents who also wanted to hear her speech. Cathy’s parents were also there. They smiled at Cathy as she walked up the school’s stage in a confident and bold manner. Once seeing her parents smile, she felt relaxed and took a deep breath and said her speech.

            “Good morning everyone. My name is Cathy of Primary 1 Honesty. It sounds like a miracle that I can talk like a Primary 6 child but it is not. I give this speech a special credit to my parents as they helped me achieve my goal of speaking confidently and even helping me to write this speech. One day, my parents told me, “ For example if your teacher, Ms Lim asks you to give a speech in front of your class and when you shiver with fear, your classmates laugh at you then what would you do? Cry? No, that’s not going to happen. Your mother and I are going to make you reduce your stage fright and make you more self-confident. Do not give up. Even if other people taunt you, they just want attention but you need to be much more confident that them and you can outshine the rest of the students. Remember, when an egg is hatched from outside, the baby inside dies. But when the egg is hatched from the inside, the baby will live. That drive must come from within you and then you can achieve greater heights.” I will never ever forget these motivational words given from by my parents. These words helped me to get rid of the shyness and the timid me when it was the first day of school. Well, the note I want to give all of you is that the steps for being confident is to never give up your goal and always remember, the drive should come from within you. Thank you.”

            Once Cathy ended of her speech, everybody gave her a standing ovation and walked out of the hall. They even complimented to the teachers that this speech was worthwhile listening. Even Angela confessed to Cathy for being so mean. Cathy accepted the apology and went up to her parents. They were definitely very proud of her and said bye to her.

            At the end of the year, Cathy had received the EAGLES award that is only meant for the top 2% of the whole school cohort. She was so proud to receive it and she was totally grateful to her parents who helped her achieve this goal. She could not thank her parents enough for helping her to achieve this award. Definitely, it was a turning point in her life.

Well friends, always remember, be Happy!!