Emily's blog

     “When I was young,” my mom says, “I was labeled by the teachers at school as a rebel, since I never obeyed their instructions.” “But as a matter of fact, I consider myself as a person who just had too many different ideas from most other students in class, and therefore did not feel the need to do things in the teachers’ ways. I felt it was necessary for me to do things in the ways I thought to be more efficient to achieve the goal.”
     “But as time went by, I found my relationships with people around me were much more terrible than I had realized myself. Teachers picked me out in class because I seemed to be the one who always break the peace and order during their lectures, as I often asked questions which I were confused about, or stated my opinions which were opposite to theirs, or even criticized their points of view. They saw me as nothing but a trouble maker.”
     “My parents were upset by the continuous complaint and warning phone calls made by my teachers in school, too. They couldn’t understand how their used-to-be-obedient, lovely little girl could have changed so dramatically. Their higher position as being parents were challenged by me, too, as I treated them equally as school teachers. They got really annoyed and we had fights almost everyday whenever I was at home.”
     “Peers of mine were separated into two different kinds to me back then, too.” “Most of them, as one group of the two, were afraid of speaking to me as they were afraid I would attack their statements or viewpoints. Which I was not that offensive at all. And another group, on the contrary, admired me for being such a daring person in class. But in retrospect, most of them in the latter group were the real rebels, like bullies in campus, and so they admired my acts out of their own perspective(challenging the authorities), which is not a good thing at all.”
     “Now I can tell you confidently, that it is not a bad thing having your own different opinions from the authorities around you now, but how to convey or even conceal them for a while instead of challenging people directly in the face is what you need to learn now. You were just like the old young me back then in the teenage period. I know sometimes it’s hard to control the desire wanting to ‘correct’ people who are giving a seemingly wrong speech towards a crowd, but it’s just something you’ll have to learn in the future. I came through it. And that’s why I’m telling you all this story.”
     After knowing my mom’s story, I came to the realization that I’ve always been too rude picking on debates while people state their opinions, or when friends are just chatting. It’s not the wisest thing to do correcting people, even though I might be virtually right, especially from diplomatic perspective. As a person who wants to develop my future occupation on diplomacy, I should watch out on this. This story also changed my view on my mom, too. I thought she’s been an obedient, virtuous woman. I never expected this. Maybe I inherited her rebellious character in my youth period, and will eventually become a good woman like her in the future after 20 years - who know! Haha!