Breaking Night

Breaking Night, an inspirational memoir, shows how Elizabeth Murray went from a homeless child, to a Harvard student. Her success was mainly her resilience, but also with the help of others. Some of them may include her friends and family members. Each of them played an important part in Murray’s life, but the two people who played an insurmountable deal to her success were Perry and Vince, the founder of Murray’s Prep school.

Originally, Murray’s Prep school was called “Failure Academy”. Bayard Rustin High School for the Humanities had too many students, with a lot of them failing. A small government committee made a separate school from Bayard Rustin High School for the failing students. The separate school became “Failure Academy”. However, Perry Weiner, the chairman of the committee didn’t approve this idea. He and Vincent Brevetti (or Vince) wanted all children to have a good education, and a second chance. They renamed “Failure Academy” into Humanities Preparatory Academy, which soon became “Prep”

Murray was going school to school, having interviews for a spot. Each school said “no” and when Murray only had one school left, she didn’t feel like going, just to be rejected ¬again. However, after some time, she decided to go, holding on to a ‘what if’. What if this school said yes? Her last school was Humanities Preparatory Academy. During the interview, Perry was looking at Murray in a way that the other teachers didn’t. His eyes didn’t judge her like all the other teachers. He was actually listing to Murray’s story. He asked clarifying questions, sigh at the part of her mother’s funeral, but he never expressed pity. After Murray finished telling her story, Perry’s face was full of emotion. At that time, Elizabeth Murray was 17, too old for high school. She had no high school history at all, and zero credits. Perry listed all the options for her, something her parents were never given. Murray sensed a ‘no’, and tried to explain how desperate she needed to get the spot. Perry took some time to think, while Murray was bracing herself for the rejection. Suddenly, he sat upright and asked Murray if she could get there on time. It was a definite acceptation.

Perry, unlike other teachers, only cares about the students. He wanted to help them in the correct way. At first, he thought 4 years in high school was a bit hard for a 17-year-old. He was only warning Murray about the pressure she’d have to face. The way he acted during the interview gave Elizabeth Murray the courage to speak. He was smiling and laughing, while understanding Murray’s state. He had no wall of discrimination to block her out. Vince was more hard-edged, but that didn’t mean he didn’t care for students. He was patient as Murray’s dad signed the application, even though her dad was nervous and making mistakes. Vince never looked at them judgmentally. Perry and Vince both never had a problem with different people. They never cared about how people seemed, or how they acted. They believed that every one is an equal. If not for them, Murray would’ve been lost. They gave her the strength and the ambition to go to school each day.

One Small Thing: Burger in the Dump

Food is one of things we take for granted. When I was in the cafeteria of my school one day, I caught a boy throwing away half a burger. I trailed the burger with my eyes and stopped at the garbage can. It was utterly disgusting. There were apples that were barely eaten, greasy fries, granola bars and much more. Then I scanned the room and notices that people were throwing away their garbage everywhere. There were squished tomatoes under the tables, bits of rice and juice.

Children in this generation have been very wasteful. Canada is able to feed the entire world yet thousands go hungry. We buy more than we need and throw most of it away. The food we throw away can be harmful to the environment. Plastic wraps and utensils and Styrofoam cups take thousands of years to decompose and release harmful toxins in the soil. Soft drink cans take even longer to decompose and birds may mistake the tab as food and choke on it.

My grandpa always told me that someone had to work for every grain of rice that I ate. Now the people think that it is very easy to get food and they do not grow the food so they buy too much. It used to be very different. It was so hard to get food that many wars were started by food shortage.

When we throw food away, the consequences are tiny when compared to other things like batteries and electronics. But throwing away batteries and electronics started off by us throwing away food. We start off small and think it is okay to throw away food so we throw away bigger things until it becomes a bad habit. Eventually, the entire Earth will become a garbage dump if we all had a bad habit of wasting things.

So instead of throwing away your old electronics or clothing, think about a charity. 

One Small Thing: The Birthday Wreath

Some time ago, my family was decorating the house before my birthday party;. We put in balloons, banners, streamers, etc. There was also a birthday wreath. It was made of plastic pieces, with the colors of yellow, red, blue, pink, white and green, all cut into unblemished letters, which spelt “HAPPYBIRTHDAY”

6 months later, the house was all cleaned up, with all the decorations gone, except for the wreath. The wreath was small, barely noticeable, and it had squeezed itself into our household. This might seem as an act of laziness, for my family and I have passed it by plenty of times without noticing it. However, now that it has been on our walls for 6 months, it fits in like any other painting, flower or calendar. It now seems as one of our decorations of daily life. It is vivid and colourful, making the house aura seem lighter and cheerful. Not just that, but it maintains the memory of my birthday, since it was one like no other. That was my first sleepover party and it was extremely joyful. Anyways, a visitor or guest would not easily notice the words formed by the slim plastic pieces. Most likely, they’ll simply find it as a typical wreath. It is awkward for a guest to ask whose birthday it is, but soon find out there was no birthday. But then, if people don’t notice it, they won’t find it peculiar.

Just because it was on our walls for 6 months, it doesn't change the fact that we can’t take it down, since for several other reasons, the wreath is completely out of place. Over the 6 months, my family had made a silent agreement to keep it in our house and to accept it as decoration.

My First Phone

My First Phone

When I was three years old, I loved playing with Band-Aids. I have a faint memory of a yellow wall covered with Band-Aids. There were Band-Aids so high that I did not know how it got there. When I went to China for a vacation, I was sad that they did not sell Band-Aids. When my aunt came to visit, she brought me a box of Band-Aids. I was thrilled. I clutched the box and wouldn't let go. Soon we boarded on a bus and my mom asked me for the box of Band-Aids but I was too stubborn and clutched harder. The rocking of the bus made me drowsy and I closed my eyes. When I woke up, we were at our destination and the box of Band-Aids was gone. This story was repeated to me many times. My parents always told me this story when I lost something.

In grade 7, I was in middle school. Because I took the TTC, my parents were worried about my safety, and they bought me a phone so they could contact me anytime.

“Tutoring is harder than I thought”, my friend said.
My phone vibrated and I took it out.
“Hi mom”, I said as the bus pulled to a stop...

I trudged home, recalling the story of the Band-Aid. My dad would be so mad. I kept losing stuff. I kept losing new stuff. I kept losing stuff that I like. I hesitated at the front door. What was I going to tell my mom? I gulped and took a deep breath as I opened the door. I managed to mumble out the accident. I had lost my phone and my mom rushed out to cancel my plan. When my dad came home, he was all cheery and I was too scared to break the news. My mom walked up to him and said something in a quiet voice. I saw the transformation on his face. His eyebrows furrowed and his smile faded. I hung my head. I was going to get it now. A minute passed. Then two. Nothing happened. I looked up. What was taking so long? I was surprised. My dad was supposed to be furious. He should be yelling at the top of his lungs. Instead, his lips were in a thin line but he was calm. He went into his office. I was puzzled. What had happened?

The following day, my dad seemed secretive. The moment he came home, he went to his office. He stayed there for hours. He came down for dinner later than usual. When he came down, he told me that he had researched another second hand phone. I was appalled. Not only was he not mad at me for losing my phone but also he was offering to buy me a new one. He told me that the next day we would go and get the phone. That day was pouring rain as if God was trying to stop me from buying a new phone. It was impossible to see. When we reached the spot, the man who was selling us the used phone wasn’t there. We forgot to bring an umbrella and we took shelter in a neighboring mall. Fifteen minutes later, the man came. I held the phone in my hand, feeling the familiar edges. This phone was the same as my old one, but it will never be my first phone.