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FUTURE ME - What would you say to your future self if you had the chance?

12/19/2012

Voice K's Junior Journalist Writes a Letter to Her Future Self

Dear Future Wendy,

I hope you are doing well, since I am you and you are me! I am currently
13 years-old and I am writing this letter in 2012. I wonder how many things have
changed. Did I accomplish my dreams, or did I decide on a different path in
life? I am very curious. Even though you are a lot older, I’m sure, deep down,
it’s the same old me.

As I think about my future life, the first thing that comes into my mind
is my family and friends. I’m positive that you would have met many new people
and made many new friends, but I hope you’ve kept in touch with everyone in
the past. I can just imagine how close our circle of friends will be by that
time. However, I hope that you still frequently email my friends that live afar,
and that you’ve kept the tradition of our get-togethers. Oh, and do we still have
our inside jokes that only we understand? Wow, time flies! Am I in university
now? Or would I be already working? I know that you know this, but I feel
like I should write it anyway: I love my family. Even if you move away from
home, I want you to always visit and call your parents.

You know, at 13 years old, I have a whole list of things that I want to
do. As you might recall, I really want to make an impact in my community. I
always hoped to become the best person I can be. Maybe I can be a lawyer
when I grow up. Was my prediction correct? I always want to continue to
write for Voice K, even if my schedule is hectic. If not, when I get older, I
can become an intern instead! Speaking of my schedule, are you still as busy
as I am now? You know, the only free day of the week for me right now is
Sunday. I swim competitively four times a week, not including the occasional
meetings, dancing, drawing, and playing badminton. Even if you don’t swim for the
club anymore, I hope you still swim regularly. Don’t stress yourself, relax,
and go for a vacation once in a while. Wow, I probably sound like my mom right
now, but don’t forget to eat healthy and stay active! And eat your veggies; don’t
eat meat all the time (even though I’m sure you still love steak like I do now).

But really, my one wish for you is to be happy. I’m sure I made many
mistakes along the way, but I hope that you can learn from them and live life
to the fullest. I hope that you are smiling while reading this, just like I’m
smiling while writing this. I hope that after reading this, you can look back
without a single regret.

Love,
Wendy Wang

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My Fencing Tournament

10/19/2012

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By Alex Zhou Illustration by Michelle Song

Over one weekend in January 2012, I attended a fencing tournament in Montreal, Quebec. During my time there, I learned many new things and I met some people who I wouldn’t have normally seen. The overall trip was a great experience and a ton of fun.

The trip to Montreal was very quick because my mother and I took a Via Rail Train. After the four hour trip, we went to our hotel and left our luggage and fencing equipment there. The night before my competition, we went out to check out the tournament area and to buy a Federation Internationale d’Escrime (FIE) approved mask. For safety reasons, I needed a FIE mask to participate in one of my categories. That night I went to sleep around nine o’clock and woke up at six o’clock, to be early for my tournament.

Warming up is essential for tournaments, practicing, and even if you just want to do some footwork or blade work. I started with some light stretches for my arms, legs, hands and feet. My two fencing friends, Jack Leighniner and Jorge Oxobrough, ran a few laps around the track with me. After taking a small fencing lesson with Alice, my coach, it was time to start my tournament.

For the competition, I signed up for two categories, 17 & under and 15 & under. The first category, which started at eight o’clock, was seventeen and under. In a fencing competition, players first enter something called a pool, in which groups of fencers (usually six or seven) have five point matches with every other person in the pool. The scores are then submitted and the fencers are ranked. After my pools, I was ranked around 30th. This wasn’t that good, but I knew that I wasn’t going to do as well inthis category, because I had only been fencing for a year whereas the other fencers were generally ranked very high in the province. Unfortunately, I was eliminated in my first round of direct elimination.

After a taking a thirty minute break, I was ready to enter my second category. There was more pressure on me for this category because I felt the need to redeem myself, as I had done horribly in my first category.
I did much better in my second pool because I had only lost two bouts. All of my friends waited in anticipation as they posted the pool results. As my eyes scrolled along the list I found my name in the twelfth position, out of over 30 fencers. Although this may not sound that good, in fencing, competitors are eliminated quickly as
we start direct elimination rounds, meaning that I had a chance of being in the top eight if I won my first round of direct elimination.

For my first bout, as I hooked myself onto the wire, I prepared myself both physically and mentally. As my coach always told me, “fencing is a sport made up of three main components: footwork, blade work, and mental strength.” I had practiced my footwork and my blade work – but was I mentally prepared? It turned out that I was. I had beaten my first direct elimination opponent; 15-13.I was overwhelmed with joy because I knew that my provincial ranking would increase after this tournament.

Another quick break was needed if I wanted to beat my next opponent. I was already very tired but I needed to keep trying my best. After eating a quick meal of an energy bar and some water, I was ready to go.

A quick look at my opponent told me that he was very experienced and that I may not win. However, giving up was not an option, and I knew that even if I lost, I would still be happy as I had tried my best. Losing 15-6 was both depressing and comforting at the same time, because although I was sad that I had only made it to the second direct elimination, I was proud of myself for going so far and beating people who I may not have been able to beat before.

However, it was time to go home. Before I left the stadium, I got to have a chat with Julie Luan, a foilist who had gone to the Olympics multiple times. What inspired me most about her was that even when she had been
stabbed by a broken foil, she still continued to finish her bout, finally claiming victory. Her story taught me to try my best even when there are lots of things standing in my way.

I had learnt many things from this trip to Montreal; not only about ways to improve my fencing, but also about the fencing community. The overall experience was great and I hope that in the future, I will have many more opportunities to participate in tournaments such as this one.

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Tokyo, Earthquake, and Me

4/1/2012

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By: Maelis Bae and Quito Ferreira, Students from The Montessori School of Tokyo, Japan

On Mar. 11, 2011 at 2:46 pm the earthquake began. We quietly dove under the tables. I was under a solitary
table that was near the middle table. I waited silently for orders from my teachers. I felt scared when the earthquake was happening but it also felt a little bit fun being tossed around in a room. (But only a little
bit fun and way more scared.)

When the earthquake stopped for a short while, one of my friends spotted his mom and went to his lockers
to get his backpack. Just when he reached the lockers, the earthquake started again. One of his friends
downstairs shouted out his name and he rushed toward them.

The teachers inside the classroom were trying to keep all the furniture from falling down. One of our teachers,
Minaco, was holding the language shelf from falling down. Another teacher called Sainoor was reading a
book to us to keep us calm.

When the earthquake ﬁnally seemed to stop, we evacuated the building and went to a small field nearby.
We waited for our parents. While we were waiting for our parents, some people tried to use their phones to
contact their parents or to listen to the radio. Some people went home with their friend’s parents when their parents said they would come very late. My parents were quite late because of the traffic.

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FUTURE ME - What would you say to your future self if you had the chance?

Voice K's Junior Journalist Writes a Letter to Her Future Self

My Fencing Tournament

Tokyo, Earthquake, and Me

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