Chronological Order

[pcliao]

Dear all,

Several of you wrote very interesting autobiography. You did show your creativity and originality in this chronological essay. There are several good models. Here are some you can read: Jennifer Tsai (AA), Matthew, and Vernice (AC). I will add more models next week after I finish reading all your essays.

Those who are mentioned above please reply my message and post your articles. Thanks!

Jane

[Vernice]

Time with Braces

No matter terrific or terrible, every person could have undergone a childhood which was accompanied with something that he or she may remember all life. As for me, because there was a serious problem with my teeth¡¦s order, I had to wear different braces at three different stages of my childhood and deal with pressure and ridicule from people around me.

When I was eight years old, I got my first brace, which was also the strangest one I had ever worn in my life. It looked like a headgear that human beings made their pets wear to prevent them from biting other people. This brace was constructed by strong black rubbers and yellow rubber bands, and was used to restrict the growth of the bones near my chin. My hair became a mess after I wore the brace, for I had to wear the brace when I was sleeping every night. Nobody could imagine how tight the rubber bands pressed my hair and my head all night long, and that was the cause why my hair always looked messy. Not even my homeroom teacher could figure out the reason of my untidy hairs. She just helped me to comb and tie a pretty braid. Meanwhile, many classmates assumed that I was a girl who didn¡¦t care about personal appearance. In spite of the fact that I did take a bath and wash my face every single day, some classmates regarded me as a bad girl merely because of my untidy hair. All these pressures I had to swallow down to the depth of my heart, and they caused me to act more unconcerned¡ÐI often talked in a bad manner and behaved like a wild animal. For instance, during the class, I deliberately interrupted my teacher¡¦s instruction and talked out loud with filthy words. Some classmates thought I was cool in such an immoral behavior whereas other classmates thought I was just an evil girl and stayed away from me. I was too young to figure out a proper way to testify my problem to people around me; that is, the more I wanted to explain the truth, the more I acted like someone who gradually went astray. I still remember that miserable time during which I accommodated with my brace by ignoring others¡¦ comments and pretending to be a bad girl.

One year later, the dentist introduced me anther type of brace which was the most common one that most people wore to rectify their teeth. This second brace had many little pieces of metal squares that clung onto the surfaces of my teeth; therefore, when I wore this brace, I looked more unattractive than ever. What was worse, I received an ugly nickname ¡§steel teeth¡¨ due to the unsightly brace. Whenever my classmates made fun of my brace, I didn¡¦t have enough courage to fight back, so I remained silent and cool during the time when I wore my second brace. This second brace got tightened when I grew taller and stronger, and the suffocating feeling of my second brace not only resembled a cruel beast rotten my easily breakable heart, but also became a heartless judge who sentenced me into a despairing jail. Because of my second brace, I became powerless and more unconfident of myself. It was hardship for me to ignore classmates¡¦ piercing mock resounding again and again around my ears. At the same time, I needed to struggle even harder to accept the unattractive girl who stood in front of the mirror was me.

Two years passed, and I went back to the dentist again in my fifth grade of elementary school. This time, I was asked to wear another brace which could be taken off when I ate. In other words, my third brace was removable, and I could take it off according to my will. However, rather than being cheerful about this ¡§removable¡¨ brace, as soon as I got this new brace, I started to have another nightmare. For fear that some food would stick onto the brace, I wrapped my brace with tissue paper whenever I had meal. Due to this small action, I frequently regarded my brace which was wrapped with tissue paper as trash and threw the brace into garbage cans. What was worse, this brace was not cheap. Therefore, every time I lost my brace, I became nervous and hysterical. The horrible situation of losing my brace was transformed into an unrelenting punishment for me. After few torment of the constant disappearances of my brace, I was infected with a phobia-- I would tremble and become anxious whenever I threw any tissue paper away. In others¡¦ viewpoint, maybe I was just like an insane girl who worried about such a strange thing, but I had to bear the pressure that came from the awkward situation.

In the end, I took off the brace in my sixth year of elementary school. The dentist told me that I had done a good job for years and helped me to take off my brace. Not until the very moment the dentist announced the success of my rectification did I find out that wearing such uncomfortable and ugly braces was not a sheer torture. Instead, it was a praiseworthy trial for my patience and perseverance. Due to many years of bearing, I eventually realized the meaning of a famous Chinese saying by Master Cheng Yen, ¡§Freedom comes from enduring with no feeling of endurance.¡¨ Once I took these obstacles as granted, I wouldn¡¦t have bothered myself to worry the many pressures from the outside world.