The Very First First Prize

Sienna has won the first award in her life, a first prize in her class’ language contest. I made sure that it was not something everybody got. Exactly how she got it, I don’t actually care.

It is an encouragement, not that she would think any less of herself without it. The truth is she has this positive attitude. It appears that she is above what she has to learn when it comes to school work. She doesn’t have to try hard to put in the effort that’s required to fulfill the teacher’s requirements or sometimes go beyond it just a little bit. She still speaks Mandarin with her cute Canadian accent. Other than that, you cannot tell that Mandarin is not her first language. You cannot tell she was late for the term a month and half. She recites by heart every text in her Mandarin language text book. She can tell you the meaning of each line, in English and in Chinese. On top of that, her American English teacher once flashed her cursive writing school work and told the class, “This could a Grade 4 student’s work.”

Sienna makes me a very proud mamma. The award is a small evidence that I am not just a proud mamma bragging.