My hero has helped me in many ways. She instilled the love of reading in me and this love has led me to read thousands of books and built up my vast knowledge. She has also given me good books to read, and each time I read them, I would be reduced to tears or howl with laughter. The special books she gave me, each had important lessons concealed in ink. Some of her actions have also inspired me in life. The “she” is none other than my aunt.
My aunt is the youngest child in my mother’s family. She has a sweet face and youthful energy. My aunt visited me regularly when I was younger, to read with me. She is very patient when reading to me. I can still remember one chilly afternoon, she was as usual reading to me. “ The rabbit loves carrots,” she said pointing to the words. “The rahbit loves karrots ,” I repeated. “ It is rabbit not rahbit, carrots not karrots.” she said patiently. I still could not pronounce it correctly. This went on for a long time. Each time I pronounced it wrongly, she would patiently pronounce it again. I was rather touched by her patience and energy.
Last year, I joined the school’s buddy reading program. Inspired by my aunt who had been patiently reading to me when I was young, I decided to ‘give it back’ by teaching the primary one students who were not good in English to read. Even though I had to sacrifice my time, I was able to learn something at every one of the sessions. I realized that giving was just as important as receiving and the satisfaction and happiness I got out of teaching those young children was immense. My aunt had helped me to see that, and she strongly encouraged me to continue with the programme. My aunt has also taught me to take care of the library books or any other books that I borrowed from others. I remember when I was about seven, she let me borrow an issue of her Reader’s Digest. I did not know how to take care of it then and when I returned it, it was dog-eared and some pages were torn. My aunt was furious, she reprimanded me. “ Even though it is probably just a mere $5, it is still important to return it in perfect shape. Other people might not be able to read the beautiful words and sentences in that book if a page was missing!” she said severely. So from that day onwards, I took great care of the books that I read, from the time I removed it from its shelves to the time I return it back.
She also advised me to write down the favourite parts of the stories I read, the beautiful phrases and words in a notebook. Some of the words that I have recorded down in my notebook were useful in my exam. Even though I cannot often visit the library to read the heartwarming or hilarious parts in the books I love, they are still treasured in my little notebook.
My aunt believes that if life is without challenges, it would not be happy, sad, exciting…… (the list goes on) just like a picture without colours . She told me to challenge myself in everything that I do, every test I take. I try to challenge myself everyday in life, even in the smallest things like the weekly spelling.
I want to pay tribute to my aunt, my hero. Thank you for the time and effort that you have put for me!