How Challenges in My Life Affected Me

An old quote was passed down from my great grandmother to the rest of the family. When I was first told this quote by my father, I did learn the meaning of this quote. It was not until recent years, when I moved away from my parents in China to live with my grandparents in America, to learn “when you are facing challenge, no matter how hard it is, just gnash your teeth, and you will get it over with.”

During my first year of middle school, I left my parents to live with my grandparents. I can still remember the day where mother’s eyes turned red when I was about to enter the airport, father tried to hug me, but, I refused because I wanted them to know that I am mature enough to handle this myself, soon, I regretted my decision.

Although it was early in the morning, the airport seemed to be already filled with people from all over the world. After I had settled down, I still had some time left. I tried to read a book I thought was interesting; however, no matter how hard I tried, I could not focus my attention on the book. As I looked around, there were children who were about my age or older with their parents, I seem to be the only kid sitting on the chair alone. It was only a few hours before I entered the plane, but I felt I had sat there alone for years when I heard the flight attendant announced that I could enter the plane. I had several experience on plane before this time, and I thought I could get it over with easily. I was wrong.

My seat was in the middle, there are two adults sat beside me, one of them seems to be a businessman, and another is a foreigner. After the plane took off, the foreigner beside me quickly fell asleep. I started to think about the things that happened in the morning, my dad’s voice, mom’s red eyes. I felt my eyes stinging, and when I rubbed them, a warm liquid washed my fingers. Tears.

It was the first time I found myself so helpless, I tried to hide my emotions, but the businessman seemed to notice. I was still having my emotional stress when a small, but clear and gentle voice began: “First time traveling alone?” I looked up, it was the businessman. “Yes sir.” I tried to not let my voice break. “You are brave, when I first travel alone I could not even open my mouth, all I want is to get it over with.” His gentle smile made me somehow forget about the sadness, we began to have conversation throughout the whole flight, and surprisingly, our conversation was interrupted by the announcement of the flight attendant to remind us that the plane was about to be landed.

Shortly after I went out of the plane, the warm air welcomed me as well as my grandparents’ smiles. The businessman was gone, but I could still feel his warmness and gentle voice around me. While we were going to my new home, I suddenly realized the meaning of the quotes my father had told me, “When you are facing challenge, no matter how hard it is, just gnash your teeth, and you will get it over with”. This precious quote always jumps into my head every time I have a new challenge.