Dong Tu (10th grade-BHS, MA) This was certainly going to be an odd trip. I had gotten used to our yearly excursions beginning and concluding with a long car ride. As my parents were planning to figure out where to go this particular year, my sister came up with the idea to go to Vietnam. At the time, I was a bit hesitant about the idea. I barely knew anything of this country. I didn’t know its capital, its currency, or even if the country had evolved to the point of having modern toilets (luckily it did). Little did I know that this trip would later have a profound impact upon me. I was very impressed with the state of the country when I finally arrived there. Any preconceived notion that this country was “third world” was certainly false, seeing that nearly every one of my relatives had cell phones and TVs. The first few days in particular, I enjoyed the city-life and I later visited the beautiful, lush countryside. As fun as this trip was, I began to notice an unhappiness that my father had. I was surprised to see this sorrow assuming he was happy visiting his family that he left behind years ago. I did not figure out this sadness until later. While the country of Vietnam is ever improving, the quality of life of the citizens is not improving as rapidly. Although, my relatives are able to sustain themselves, they are still living in poverty. I believe my father witnessing his siblings unfortunate living conditions is what made him sad. My cousins had no chance for a higher education. They had no chance for a good job, or any opportunity to climb the social ladder. One aunt in particular could barely afford to keep her house. It is always sad to see a family poverty-stricken on TV, but it is absolutely humbling to see your own relative living in poverty. Seeing the problems that my aunts and uncles have to face each day, I felt that a lot of the problems that I had were insignificant. How could I complain about not getting an Ipod or a new video gaming system while I had relatives who have the possibility of losing their home? The trip allowed me to be glad of the chances that I have been given. This trip acted as a turning point for me. Before this trip, I was the type of student that was rather unwilling to work hard in school. As a result, I received grades that were lower then what I am capable of receiving. I entered the tenth grade in the fall and began to push myself academically and took it upon myself to improve my grades substantially. I went from a straight “B” student to a solid “A” student. I will forever be grateful of the lesson that this trip taught me which is that the world is not fair. Many people in the world who have the tools to excel are placed in unfortunate circumstances that limit what they are able to accomplish. I was lucky enough to be born in a society that does not have these “chains”, and I realize this. I have been given a chance that many of my family members do not have, a prospect that I should not squander. I know for a fact, that in the future I will continue to motivate myself to work hard. This, however, is not just exclusive to school, but in other venues in my life as well. I will forever be grateful of the things I have and not regret the thing that I do not have.

One of the stupid ticket barriers at the Swanston Street end of Melbourne Central train station swallowed my yearly ticket yesterday! I was lucky in the sense that it was the last valid day on that ticket, but how was I to get home?! I ended up leaving my name and phone number with the ticket office, as per the stationmaster's instructions, so that if i got caught by ticket inspectors, they could call up to confirm that I had indeed got my ticket captured. It was 15 minutes that I didn't need to spend. From now on, I'm keeping a photo of the ticket in my phone...