Essay: Story that ends with: "... and so I became a better person."

It was a hot afternoon as the scorching sun was shining brightly in the sky. I was about to take a nap but the heat from the sun was unbearable. I sat on my bed, feeling sleepy. I turned around and looked at my study table. It was in a mess. Books and stationery were strewn all over the table. So I decided to tidy them up.

When I was arranging the books, suddenly a photo fell out of a book that I was holding. I picked it up and looked at it. It was a picture of my best friend, Ben, and me. I began to recall how Ben became my best friend.I could still remember that it was the first day in my new school and I was in form 4. My class teacher made an arrangement for me to sit beside Ben. I had been kicked out of my previous school because of my discipline problems. Starting from that day, I often disturbed other classmates when the teachers were teaching. Although the teachers had already given me warnings, I was as stubborn as a donkey and ignored them. All the teachers complained about my bad attitude and behaviour in class and my classmates did not like me, except for Ben. He tried his best to influence me positively and helped me. But I refused to listen to him.

Ben was the top student in our class. He also excelled in sports and was a role model to other students. Compared to me, he was totally a different person. But he did not give up on me and kept trying to guide me. Until one day, something happened and I decided to turn over a new leaf. That day, the school bell rang and it was time to go home. When I was walking home and passing by a bus stop, I saw two junior students waiting for their school bus. I walked towards them and bullied them. I did not notice that two seniors were coming. One of the seniors grabbed my collar and pulled me away from the two juniors. He was actually the two juniors' elder brother.

"Hey! How dare you bully my brothers!" he shouted at me. I was quite shocked to hear that.

The seniors began to hit me on my face and stomach. I suffered from excruciating pain and fell to the ground, begging them to stop. I felt dizzy and could see the anger in their eyes. Suddenly, I saw someone running towards us. He tried to stop the two seniors but was unsuccessful. He then shielded me against the attack. When I took a closer look, I realised that it was Ben!

"This is what you deserved for bullying my brothers!" the juniors' elder brother said furiously through gritted teeth. Soon, they left.

Ben helped me up, took my arm and led me to the bench. There were bruises and wounds all over my body. Ben decided to take me to his home, where he applied ointment to my bruises and dressed my wounds. I was extremely grateful to him for his assistance. At the same time, I was regretful and shameful for what I did to the juniors.

From that day, Ben and I became intimate friends. We always did our homework and revisions together. After a period of time, the teachers were pleasantly surprised to see that my exam results had improved by leaps and bounds. They were also glad that my conduct had improved tremendously.

One day, Ben gave me a call and wanted to see me in the park near to our neighbourhood. He told me that he and his family were going to move to Perak as the company that his father was working in decided to transfer him to the Perak branch. Before we went home, he advised me against backsliding and encouraged me to study hard for a brighter future. We embraced each other before we parted.

I was extremely grateful to Ben for helping me. He was like an elder brother and a teacher to me. He had taught me so much. I listened to him and so I became a better person.

Essay: My Most Embarrassing Situation

            Everyone has been embarrassed at one time or another. It is that moment in time when you wish the earth would open up and swallow you. The anxiety and discomfort felt during that time which may only last a few seconds feels like time has stood still.

            I remember so well when I had my most embarrassing moment. I was in Form 4 and it was during the school recess. The minute the bell rang for recess, I rushed to the toilet because I had been controlling my urges since class started. I didn’t want to miss class because the lesson taught that morning was to include tips for the forthcoming examination.

            Without realising, I had rushed to the girls’ toilet. The prolonged control and an upset stomach made worse by two glasses of cold milk in the morning made me grunt and groan in what I thought in what I thought was the privacy of the cubicle. I thought I heard giggling outside and wondered why the giggles sounded unusually near. A few minutes later I came out the cubicle and discovered my horror that I had entered the girls’ toilet. To make matters worse, the few girls standing outside didn’t even turn away when I came out. Instead they looked down at me, then only they turned quickly away. Horror of horrors, I had forgotten to zip up! No beetroot could have matched the colour of my face at this point in time!

            They news of my predicament spread like wild fire throughout school. I was truly the talk of the town. I felt like I could either walk around feeling perpetually self-conscious and embarrassed or I could turn the situation round, perhaps even to my advantage. I remembered my mother’s words that ‘if you can’t beat them, join them’. So I decided to make fun of myself, to laugh at myself too. It works. Everyone got bored after a while and nobody teased me after that.

            It was indeed an eye-opening experience for me. I have learnt that when people laugh at you, you should laugh along. You must not take yourself seriously. Learn to look at yourself through other people’s eyes and you will realise that most of the time when they laugh at you, they just want to have some fun. They mean no harm. If you can make people laugh, it’s like bringing sunshine into their lives and as someone said, ‘those who bring sunshine to the lives of others cannot keep it from themselves.’

            I remember so well when I had my most embarrassing moment. I was in Form 4 and it was during the school recess. The minute the bell rang for recess, I rushed to the toilet because I had been controlling my urges since class started. I didn’t want to miss class because the lesson taught that morning was to include tips for the forthcoming examination.

            Without realising, I had rushed to the girls’ toilet. The prolonged control and an upset stomach made worse by two glasses of cold milk in the morning made me grunt and groan in what I thought in what I thought was the privacy of the cubicle. I thought I heard giggling outside and wondered why the giggles sounded unusually near. A few minutes later I came out the cubicle and discovered my horror that I had entered the girls’ toilet. To make matters worse, the few girls standing outside didn’t even turn away when I came out. Instead they looked down at me, then only they turned quickly away. Horror of horrors, I had forgotten to zip up! No beetroot could have matched the colour of my face at this point in time!

            They news of my predicament spread like wild fire throughout school. I was truly the talk of the town. I felt like I could either walk around feeling perpetually self-conscious and embarrassed or I could turn the situation round, perhaps even to my advantage. I remembered my mother’s words that ‘if you can’t beat them, join them’. So I decided to make fun of myself, to laugh at myself too. It works. Everyone got bored after a while and nobody teased me after that.

            It was indeed an eye-opening experience for me. I have learnt that when people laugh at you, you should laugh along. You must not take yourself seriously. Learn to look at yourself through other people’s eyes and you will realise that most of the time when they laugh at you, they just want to have some fun. They mean no harm. If you can make people laugh, it’s like bringing sunshine into their lives and as someone said, ‘those who bring sunshine to the lives of others cannot keep it from themselves.’