- Personal Narrative 2

The picture is Jay   

<Becoming a tourist>

Three years ago, I met a young“rocker” of my age in a small debate academy. His name was “Jay”, and he lived in Ann Arbor, Michigan for seven years. Behind his shoulder, I could see the a crimson-red electronic guitar. Purely due to instinctive interest, I walked over and asked him if he would make a debate team with me. He said yes.

His uniqueness was proved in our years of debating. Instead of listening to the academy teacher who taught us dirty tactics and even the entire case, Jay kept on reading weird books and articles that seemed to be completely irrelevant to the debate. I wondered why he was doing that since we had tons of homework already. Jay said, “They don’t have fun stuff”. For heaven’s sake, is this normal when the tour,knament is next week? Winning was not what J prioritized.

I couldn’t understand Jay at all. Why does process matter when you have a goal to accomplish? Back then, I was the top student of my school. This was achieved throughout years of pain. Only focusing on a particular destination, I usually got what I wanted, but wasn’t sure if it had a higher value than what I had endured. Finding no answer, I often consoled myself with a tiny bit of relief I got.

However, a gradual change occurred. Jay and I were great debate buddies, and our team always had a satisfying result. I didn’t need additional prizes. But I didn’t stop debating, despite the upcoming KMLA admission. The reason wasn’t something fancy. I just missed the ardor.

When we became really close friends, I carefully suggested that his GPA is too low to enter a prestigious high school. That was when he “confessed” that he is actually a “tourist”. He said that he’s a lonely tourist in the middle of “competitive slave sprinters”. He added that he doesn’t care about his GPA because his school has become a tool for “elites” to get ahead.

Whereas I began to find Jay very attractive, his bohemian spirit was having hard times. The high school problem was the biggest reason. Without the help of private tutors, Jay recieved 118 and 2370 on the first TOEFL and SAT. So Jay was definitely smarter than me, and it wasn’t a coincidence for his parents to have great expectations. However, his GPA was too low. Eventually, he went to a foreign language high school inGyeonggi-do. He told me that his parents were really upset and sold the crimson-red guitar. Why can’t the world see the incredible potential of Jay? Or should have Jay accepted reality and stuck to textbooks instead of doing what he really loves?

Well, I figured it out after a short talk on Facebook with him in February. “If today were the last day of my life, would I want to do what I am about to do today?” Doing what you love is much worthier than kissing to a meaningless gold medal like slave sprinters. Race is inevitable at KMLA. But don’t jeopardize the happiness of learning for nothing. In the case of Jay, the world will definitely recognize his great potential soon.

To all tourists, hope you enjoy the tour.