Mariam Abdushelishvili
Ms. Bostick
10th literature
18 January, 2008
“Peace begins with a smile”. ~Mother Teresa
I always preferred silence than answering back and later regretting. Some made fun, some ignored, all of them disrespected, but eventually they admired. I always believed that there is kindness in every person, sometimes it’s just a tiny sparkle of kindness and I guess that sparkle was what I was looking for so closely, hoping to make them open their eyes and start caring.
It was two years ago that I moved to United States from my native country Georgia. I have to admit, my first days were terrible. I was lost. I still couldn’t realize where I was. I would wake up, look around the room and not recognize the place. It was the same when school started. I was the quietest in there. People always wondered what was wrong with me but it was just the environment I couldn’t get used to. Soon they started making up stories about me and making fun of me. I would say something and hear it repeated in an exaggerated accent by somebody else the next moment. What came after was the laughter. I would just look at them, not knowing what to say, smile awkwardly, and look away with a great embarrassment. Those kinds of things kept happening for one more year, and I kept smiling.
One day, I talked to my mom about these problems. When I told her what that guy said she asked me “what did you say?” I was trying to remember what exactly happened, but I couldn’t think of anything said on my part. I said “nothing” with an unsatisfied expression on my face. She looked at me with a loving smile and said something that now has become the law of my life: “well, I’m proud of you baby. Always remember, it doesn’t matter what they say, how they try to harm you or break your heart, what matters is how do you accept it, how do you react, how you translate it in your heart’s language and if you will be able to respond the way you want them to treat you. If...