Commissioned Essay

Dear my friend,

                  You might remember from conversations we had a long time ago that my wish was to live a different life every day. I was so bored of repetitive routine at school and at home, eager for new changes or even some kinds of accidents. I wanted to have ups and downs in every single day and remember every day as a special day, an unforgettable journey. And that wish was finally realized when I came to KMLA. Every day is like a shot of lightening! Everything happens so swiftly and yet with such a strong impression on me.

                  My daily journey at KMLA starts with a painstaking morning exercise. I have to drag my heavy torso dangling with my four limps to the playground and walk around it like a zombie. That’s the same every day. But what’s different is that when cold morning air awakens my mind, I would then notice little but remarkable changes around me—maybe mist that shrouds the space near me like soft satin, maybe snowflakes lightly landing on my shoulders and whispering to my ear, maybe eye-burning sunshine that steals the charm and beauty from any other natural objects, and there are more and more. How can I deny that I am so blessed to live in a place with no building shielding the morning sun and no smog blurring the starry sky but clearly with the evolving power of nature that decorates the stage for each and every journey of mine in a special way. Therefore no wonder—the same place to journey, but I feel like I am travelling at a different place every day!

                  In my dairy, all my things-to-do are pretty much the same: assignment, club activity, school activity, class project and perhaps three or four others, no more and no less for two full years. You might wonder how such a life is different from the past one which monotony I had often complained about. But when every task means to me a new challenge, a new opportunity and a new enlightenment, my life becomes completely different. It is no longer about going over repetitive problem-sets, memorizing a piece of texts by reading over and over, and learning by rote a well established system of information. Rather, it is about discovering various solutions to the same problem, reading closely to interpret the meanings hidden between the lines, and absorbing information along with its pattern and interconnection. Launching every new task is like switching to another type of lands: from a highway to a sidewalk, from a grass land to a mountain, from a wheat field to a swamp...

                  There is something I can control about my life: what to do, when to do, and perhaps how to do. However, there are things that I can never expect bumping into my journey and giving me joyful surprise. For example, whenever I have free time or feel the need to relax and meditate, I would go to the hill behind my dorm and walk along the trail on it. I never expect anything special to happen there but every time something happens. Once, while I was sitting on a rock looking at the mountains further away. Suddenly, I heard someone making noise behind the bush. That was Mr. Ganse, another avid mountain lover on campus! Once, while I was cutting down a dead tree with Mr. Ganse to clear up the barriers to the trail, a group of four or five climbers walked by and wholeheartedly thanked us for clearing up the road. Once, I met a farmer and a boy having a simple picnic under the shadow of a tree from which I picked some wild fruits. Small encounters, here and there, decorate my journey with unexpected joys and laughter so that I remember every walk to the hill as a special and unique journey.

                  Such is my life at KMLA—a new journey every day, a lifestyle I want to keep in the future as well. Another day to go, another journey to launch…… What is going to happen? I know it is going to be different from the last one, but how? I am so excited! 

Your friend.