A Fresh New Start
Recall my past 18 years, I lived like a spoiled little girl. Compared with my other classmates, I’m so glad to have that kind of experiences before. Every time my classmates go out, they have to take the over-crowded subway, no air-conditioned bus, but I only take my family car with air-conditioner and accompany by my parents. Every time I go out my parents just drop me off at the place I go and pick me up at the place where I will leave because they think it might be dangerous and they do not want me to get uncomfortable. So, recall my past 18 years, I barely haven’t take the public transportations and even have no idea how to do it. But there’s one special experience I had in my senior high school.
This experience had leave a deep expression in my heart which is in my first year of high school. Our school sent us to the Fairmount Private School in Los Angeles for one month, studying about the American History, politics and the spirit of sports competition. This was the first time that I came to U.S, no parents accompanied ever but only students around, a thoroughly difference experience compared to the experience I had before. Whenever I go to some places I need to query some surrounding information with my friends to any place we want to access. Nevertheless, I haven’t developed this ability when I come back to China, I still rely on my parents when I want to anywhere or anyplace. I wasn’t happy due to the fact that I think it is the time for me to grow up not being the spoiled little girl like I used to, stop “cradling” under my parents’ protection forever.
Coming to UCSB for almost a month, I already thoroughly remember our school’s bus loop in that every time I go for visiting my high school best friend Jessica who lives in the Santa Catalina Residence Hall, I have to take the MTD bus to get there. After so many times of practices, I remember how to do it, due to the fact that it is much harder for the person like me to take the public transportation in an unfamiliar place. Additionally, I also acknowledge that whenever I want to go Kmart, I should take this side of the bus loop to go; whenever I need to go downtown, I should take the other side of the bus loop to go, and also looking up the bus arriving time in order for me to arrange my time schedule. These strategies and things I learned are very useful and fascinating to me. Moreover, one important thing I learned from taking MTD is that every time when we have to get off that station, we have to pull the yellow stiff line right above our head, so the sounding machine will remind the driver that somebody needs to get off the bus otherwise you may miss your off station. It is difficult for me to do at the very beginning, but I try my best to learn it and I think it is the wonderful and exciting experience I have since I no longer need my parents to drive me anymore. Just like studying abroad, very far distances from home, we have to do anything by ourselves with no help from parents anymore. From my perspective, I think this ability makes me so happy even though it may sound nothing to somebody else, it is still a fresh start for making the new step of my own, taking the public transportation along ever. My parents also proud of me when they heard this thing from my friend Jessica. I am glad that I no longer be that little girl “cradling” under my parents’ protection anymore.
A good fresh new start will continue in something else that I confront in UCSB, and I am sure that I will do it well also.
