Experiences that Build My Future

同志社国際中学校３年

水江

眞子

There is nothing abnormal about the fact that I live in a house,
with my parents and a brother.

I go to school, I eat whatever I feel

like, and I learn new things every day.
in Japan.

However, one step out of the country, and you learn thatit just doesn’t work that way.
to live in slums.
next day.

It’s normal for people living

There are people out there who have

People wondering if they have anything to eat thePeople unable to get a job because their education ended

in elementary school.

The list could go on and on.

We learn thatone step out of the country where people are fortunate enough to notworry about being killed by bombs the next day, there is a world out
there where people are worried that they actually are going to get hit
by bombs.
Before second grade here in Japan, I guess that I never knew
about that world.

Of course, there were things on TV about starving

kids in Africa and the kids suffering from diseases that can be easily
cured elsewhere. I knew about them and felt sorry for them. On theother hand, I liked my little bubble I lived in.
friends and I.

How wonderful.

Just my family,

When you have just started

elementary school, they never teach you much about those things
some people would rather not think about.
at the TV and see those poor people.
weren’t they like me?

So, it scared me to look

Why were they there?

WhyI would ask myself but not get an answer.

It’s pretty scary stuff for a seven year old.
magnetically attached to reading books.

Back then, I wasPeople might think thatafter reading so much, I would know more about the world outsideof my bubble.

I didn’t, though.

Maybe I did know a little, but I’m

not going to lie and say that I knew a lot.

The truth is that I really

don’t remember how I could have not known.
However, everything changed after I moved to the U.S. Kids myage knew about those people in poor countries all over the world.
They knew things I wouldn’t have imagined when I was in Japan.

Iwill never forget the time when I didn’t want to drink out of myjuice box.

It had a cartoon character on it, and I thought that it wasfor little kids.

I just didn’t want to drink out of it.

However, myvery sensible friend took one look at the juice box and me and said, “Youknow, Mako, there are kids out there who can’t even drink juice.” Ifelt ashamed of myself.

How could I have been so selfish?

Howcould I have thought that the world was just a planet packed withhappiness?
this.

Even now, it makes my chest tight when I think about

How could I have been so stupid?
Afterthatsmallincident,

ormaybebeforeremember exactly, an African kid came to our school.

that,I

don’t

I think that

he was some kind of exchange student.

Either way, he couldn’t

speak English so he came to my ESL class.

He told me that it took

him 23 hours to get to Michigan from where he used to live.

I never

got to know about his background fully, but I remember the day
when my homeroom teacher told us about how there are kids out
there who aren’t as fortunate as we.
from Africa.

She also mentioned the kid

Back then, I hadn’t mastered the English languageperfectly, so I didn’t understand most of what she was saying.
Despite that, I got the image that he came from somewhere that wasclearly different from places we were used to.

He left about a year

later, but even as a young child, it left me thinking that I wanted toknow more about the world outside of my bubble.
I suddenly wanted to learn more about everywhere in thisworld.

I made lists of countries I wanted to go to someday, and thelanguages that I wanted to study.

It was indeed very interesting tolearn about different countries, what their currency is, and what
languages they speak.

I was amazed at how unique each country is,

and how much they differed from what I was used to.

My English

tutor, who had gone to many different countries around the world,
told me all kinds of stories about what it was like in other countries.
It was mind-blowing to hear all those stories.

On the other hand, I

learned about the dark parts of this world too: about the terrorists
lurking around us, and about the people who lost parts of their bodyfrom mines that are still buried in places that used to be involved inwars.

I found out that in some countries, only a small percentage ofpeople can read and write.

The “this is typical” things here were

without a doubt not typical for many, many people in our planet.
Now, at age 14, I don’t have much time to think about what I
want to do when I am older.

There is so much to ponder, though.

However, I want to keep in mind the people who are less fortunate
than me.

I want to discover more about the world by traveling andexperiencing different cultures.

I’m still not certain if I can actually

do that or what kind of things will be available for me to do.
certainly don’t have much of a talent for anything.

IOn the otherhand, I still want to know more about the places I don’t know about.
I want to work in the international world.
one of the places I’m considering.

The United Nations isMaybe there, I will finally be able

to work internationally and help those in need.
there is much for me to learn though.
future.

Right now, though,I have many goals for mySome of them are: master at least four different languages,

learn more about organizations that are helping those in need, try to
broaden my view of the world, and be the best person I can be,because I can’t change the world before I change myself.
I have a lot more years to live.

In the end, though, when I amlying on my deathbed, I want to make sure that I will have done
something good for the world and that I will have already traveled todifferent countries.

When I think about now, about those experiences

I’ve had, it all add up to who I really am now.
were joyful; some were depressing.

Some experiences

I can think of many things I

regret now and of things that make me proud of myself.

Because ofthose experiences, I have a goal now, to work in this world withpeople in different countries.
wish to be like.
learn more.
future.

I’ve met so many wonderful people I

I want to have many more experiences in life andI’m ready to take whatever comes in my way in my