專家介紹
1.姓名: 王鈺荃
2.性別: 女
3.年齡: 22
4.目前就讀於東海大學外國語文學系三年級
5. 曾經擔任過教育部數位學伴計畫之大學伴一學期(對偏鄉國小小朋友從事英文視訊教學)
6. TOFEL: 80
7. TOEIC: 785
8. 英文自傳:
What made me different from my brother as I was growing up, was that I was always the one who behaved well whereas my brother often caused troubles in schools. Born in the same family, my brother and I have totally different personalities. I was obedient, gentle, and sometimes even timid. Unlike me, my brother was rebellious and bold. When my brother demanded me to give him my toys, I was afraid to say no, otherwise he would hit me and pinch my skin hard. When my parents told me what to do, I dared not to talk back a word. Even though sometimes I would like to express my own thoughts, however, my fear of punishment always took away my courage to speak out. This kind of bashful personality somehow lead to the darkest period of my life. Fortunately, I wasn’t trapped in the dark for long since a sudden light came in and brightened my world again.
I have been studying in the same private school since kindergarten. When I was in junior high, I would never forgot the day that I decided to live in the dorm in school in order to force myself to study hard for the high school entrance exam. That was when the nightmare started to devour me. Being a new member to the dorm, I didn’t know any of my roommates since most of them were from other classes. To catch up with my study schedule, I spent most of the time studying in the classroom. Everything was going smoothly for the first and second weeks until the third week came. It was nearly midnight when I had finally done with studying and was ready to go back to the dorm and sleep. When I was about to open the door, I heard my roommates speaking ill of me loudly. They were talking about how bad-looking my pajamas are and made fun of my nerdy glasses. At that moment I could hear my heart being broken into pieces. However, I pretended not hearing anything and went back to sleep. I thought that it didn’t matter how they disliked me since I only stayed in the room during sleeping hours.
Nevertheless, situation didn’t become better the other day I woke up. For the following weeks, they started to chat and to sing loudly during sleeping hours purposely every single day. What’s even worse was that I witnessed they took turns to tread my pillow on the floor and to curse me at the same time. Yes, I was bullied and I felt helpless and despaired. Again, I dared not to fight back since I was the only one person whereas they got four people. I kept swallowing down all the humiliation and insults from them. As a result, they intensified their bullying on me. For example, they pretended to “lock the door” unintentionally so I had no place to sleep on a cold, windy night. During that period of time, I usually hid in the bathroom crying and wondering what I had done wrong for those people to treat me like hell. Every day was a harsh and painful day. I was damaged both mentally and physically. In order to stay out from more troubles, I still didn’t tell the truth to my parents and teachers till the semester ended when I could finally move out.
When I finally finished painful junior high, I got a chance to go abroad as an exchange student in high school. Attending this exchange program in the US lightened up my life and changed the ways I think. Of course, it was also a huge challenge for me at the same time. At first, the language barrier prevented me from communicating with my host family properly. Besides, attending to local high school was another story since I had to adjust to a different educational system and worried about how to make friends. The first two months were totally a disaster for me. I got homesick and I sat in a corner alone having my lunch every day in school. At night, I skyped my parents and told them that I want to go back home. From the screen, my mom told me she could arrange the flight back for me if I really didn’t like it there. Then, I saw a drop of tear secretly slid down on her face. Suddenly, I felt so sorry for my parents and myself. Not many people could have such a good opportunity to be an exchange student, however, I just kept hiding and escaping from those difficulties before I even tried to find out solutions. I refused to leave myself fallen and being depressed all the time. I need some changes!
What’s magical was that when I changed my negative thoughts to positive ones, people started to talk to me and join me with lunch. I had tried my best to talk to people in the school. When they talked about something I didn’t understand, I asked instead of being silent. When they couldn’t get my points, I explained and used gestures to communicate with them. I had tried hard to immerge myself in this new place. Eventually, I made friends from so many other countries such as Belgium, Mexico and France. I also participated in the dance team and had several performances on the football game. On weekends, I went to church with my host family, and sometimes visited friends’ houses. I enjoyed my life by experiencing and discovering different cultures and people every single day. I was finally on the right track and felt alive. It was the first time that I felt free and careless. I was able to express my opinion freely without any fear. I was able to leave behind the awful memory of bullying and move on to my new life. Though I was discriminated as an Asian occasionally, I was no longer the girl who dared not to say a word back. I had already learned to speak up and protect myself.
Sometimes, I really appreciate those who have hurt me. Without them, I wouldn’t have changed so much. Without them, I probably would not be stimulated to go to the US and to learn so much. Currently, I am continuing my study in university. No matter how many challenges are going to come in the future, I believe with fearless courage, I can live every day beautifully without regret.
