How I Died - In-Class Chainwriting

     I was running, running, and running. I could feel the wind whistling in my ears, the sharp pangs of pain running through my legs like electric shocks, and the stray branches and tall weeds around me whipping at my face. My heart felt like it was going to explode and I was gasping desperately for breath. And yet I kept running without ever looking back.
     I felt something chasing me and its speed grew faster and faster. I tumbled, rolled, and fell flat on my stomach, but I got up and ran faster. The whole place was closing in on me or was it just my imagination? Now I could feel the thing right next to me, but I didn't dare turn to look at it and just kept running. I was panting like a dog, but nothing seemed to stop my legs. Ouch! It grabbed my right arm and tried to pull it apart. The harder I tried to get free, the harder it grabbed me.
     "Yikes!" I shouted. Then it was quiet. Then I realized I had been dreaming. But the pain was real; it was still lingering on my right arm. I have often encountered this kind of dream since last winter, when cancer cells were first discovered in my limb. Since then, this room in the hospital has been my home and my laptop my best friend. From deep inside, I was deeply missing the world outside instead of the world inside the computer.
     I decided to sneak out of the hospital. I felt like all of the people were waiting for me to die. I was afraid I would disappear someday, having no memories or people to adore. I pulled out all the strings and cords that were attached to my body. I silently went through the half-closed door, and succeeded in reaching the stairs without being spotted by the nurses.
     I slowly crept down the stairs and out of the hospital. The outside air was not as cold as I expected it to be. In fact, I noticed that there was no air at all. I was suffocating. The medicine that was injected into me by my various tubes and chords was absent, and my body was feeling it. I could feel a bubbly foam coming out of my gaping mouth searching for air. I was pounding on my heart and then, I died. With no one to help me, with no one that loves me, with no one that cares for me, with no one standing by me.

My Opinions on the Tiger Mother

             I recently saw my mother reading  Battle Hymn of the Tiger Mother by Amy Chau. She told me, "I try to be your friend...and you know how much I try to understand you. I let you make your own decisions and don't intervene much in you life, do I? And I do believe that I brought you up just fine. This woman, Amy Chau, is interesting. Google her in your spare time, will you? And tell me what you think of her education philosophy." So, I googled her up and found an article, "Why et Mothers are Superior" in the Wall Street Journal. Amy Chau provides readers with extreme views on child education in her article. In general, I do not agree that the extreme Asian way of raising children is superior in all cases.

             Amy Chau believes that the parents should have complete control of a child’s life. This, I believe, is actually detrimental to children in the long run. If parents continue to override children’s preferences, children will become overly dependent on their parents and will not be able to make decisions for themselves. For example, my middle school was a dormitory school so students were separated from their parents. Some of my peers’ mothers previously always supervised them and made them study continuously. This was effective in the short-run because my peers received good grades and got accepted into the school. However, in the dormitory school, the mothers who observed every action of their children were not there anymore. As a result, my classmates with parents who controlled their lives reveled in the freedom of choice and chose to play computer games, and sleep in class - indulging themselves to the luxuries they were deprived of. This led to mediocre grades. The shocked mothers made the children drop out of the dormitory school so they could supervise their children again. If this cycle continues, children will not be able to choose the right path when they eventually go to college and then out into society...and parents will be not be able to do anything about it.

             So, in my opinion, controlling children is actually harmful in the long run. If children are to survive without the help of their parents, they should be able to make their own decisions and discover the joy of learning. Of course, I am not saying that parents should make kids do whatever they want. Parents should just be their guides and not their dictators. Parents should not be leading the way of their children's paths to the future, but rather be walking a few steps behind them, always there to give their children a gentle nudge here and there when they stray too far from the pathway. So, thanks, Mom for being my friend and not my dictator...and I must say, you did bring your daughter up just fine.:)