Peer Personal Statement Essay
Final Draft
Yuri Ishikawa
Nov. 16, 2016
Jared Pangier
A2 American Literature
Peer Personal Statement (Momoka)
I am Momoka Kim, 17 years old. Momoka means fragrance of peach blossoms. After the long snowy winter, people would see the peach blossom and scent the fragrance. When people would see peach blossom after the long winter, they will know that spring has come. I am living in a small country, Japan, far north from the capital city, Sapporo.
Sapporo is a city I was born and grew up in. From kindergarten to seventh grade, I lived in the small community in Hokkaido, Hokkaido International School. Surrounded by the same friends, same people and growing up together. They are almost the same as myself; their behavior is almost the same and what they do. For instance, if there is a new person, we are the majority and minority. We surround the person and everybody starts talking to the person. In this condition, there is no need to get nervous, no need to be worried, if the person will like me or not. I was always happy, being protected by the shield, which was the small community. My life was fine. However, I was like a little rabbit in the deep snow, nobody could see me, nobody knew where I was. I want to appear myself in this small community. Like a little rabbit, I jumped and jumped, as my footstep sounds erased by the soft snow. I am an invisible existence. No friend in the winter filled. Nobody knows where I am headed, and I don’t know where I am going either.
I started to feel uncomfortable by the surrounded small community when I was seventh grade. I eager to have the wider perspective. I move to a Japanese school one year. With an Asian face, Japanese name, I had no trouble at school. Year by year, I started to think about my future. With my dream to be a beautician, talking with many people and giving them beauty and comfort. I will see many people, different races, different ages, different backgrounds, as a customer. I started to worry about that I need to see more people and experience more. I pushed myself into “much wider environment” where we can see many different races, disparity of wealth.
I transferred the school to Canada own my own and pushed myself stayed with the host family. In Canada, I became a target of discrimination at school. The first year, I survived with no friend at all. Because I was a little snow white rabbit in the snow field, shy, introverted, and couldn’t communicate with others at all. I was sad and lonely, felt very cold in Canada, where I knew nobody, nobody knew me. I did not talk to anybody. I did not listen to anybody. I became aware of that I will be the person who owns the very popular hair salon, people keep coming not only to have nice hair done but also have me their life partner to share their life stories. Behaving "most popular and warmest hear salon owner and in the popular magazine", I became a good listener and a good speaker. I became popular in the school and that made me fruitful school life in Canada.
I could overcome my weakness by creating my dream. I focused myself on the future and behave as how I want to be myself in the future. This step makes me conquer my mental and bodily habit I used to do. Just like a little white rabbit in the field.
"Momoka", my name means peach blossom fragrance, people will notice me by my fragrance, atmosphere without noticing me. Then, they find my real existence, peach blossom, pink petal, soft and warm flower. It makes people comfortable, warm and happy when they found it in the cold white show. Spring has come for them. My experiences, past 17 years and from now on, I know how to deal with the big wall, my fear, that stands in front of me.