My School Life in Macao

Commended Entry: "My School Life in Macao" by Daphne Tsu from Macao/ China.

This article was submitted in the Kids World Travel Guide Essay Competition 2022 in the Junior Category 8 - 11 years.

My School Life

As a nine-year-old kid, my school life is an unpredictable rollercoaster ride. Every day is an entirely different ride, an entirely different sensation, an entirely different adventure. Sometimes the ride is slow and steady; sometimes the ride is shocking and surprising.

The only thing I can hang on securely to are my English, Art, and Library lessons. These lessons are the time I can find my freedom and let my creativity soar. My art lessons are where I can draw out my ideas. My library lessons are where I can read books. My English lessons are the lessons that I always look forward to, especially writing and doing reading comprehensions. These lessons are the only time where I can take a break and get off my roller coaster ride because I feel I am in control and confident. For my other lessons, I do have a twinge of interest in them.

Exciting things sometimes pop up out of the blue: an assessment in Math class, for example, or having an important project in science class. My least favorite subject is Chinese. It is also my weakness, and so I sometimes need a bit of help with my homework. But for the other subjects, it is a piece of cake.

My weekends and holidays are the days that I relax. Every Saturday morning, I have a clown teacher teaching me music theory. In the afternoon my happiness hums a tune while I go to my dancing class. On Sunday mornings, I usually go horse riding, where I feel calm and relaxed while riding in the wind. And during my art class in the afternoon, my imagination breaks free.

Even though I sometimes wish I could have more holidays, I know that there are other children in this world that don’t have the opportunity to go to school like I do. So, I really cherish school, because it’s where I make friends, learn and have fun.

This year, just before the summer holidays, there was a covid outbreak in Macau. Just before the outbreak, my grade three teacher told my class that we would have soccer match for the boys in our grade and a dodgeball match for the girls. We were also going to have a dress up day for 'Charlie and the Chocolate Factory' the next week. I was really looking forward to the upcoming events, but when I heard that school would be suspended, I was really upset.

At that time, I truly knew how those children who couldn’t go to school felt. And so, this year, I plan to cherish my school time even more and work even harder at every subject.

Congratulations on your essay "My School Life", Daphne. Thank you for sharing insights into your school life! The essay is well composed! Well done!

Daphne Tsu attends Macau Anglican College. English as Second Language - Home language Mandarin