Inspirational English, Issue 42, Jan/Feb 2018 Inspirational English, Issue 42, Jan Feb 2018 | Page 37

DIVING INTO
SOMETHING NEW
screaming at 70 miles per hour. ‘Scaredy-cat!’
someone teased. ‘Am not!!’ I retorted, and that gave
me no choice but to follow them through the gates.
Close up, the roller coaster looked even more
ominous, as its sprawling tracks twisted and turned in
a nauseating jumble of rails above our heads, like a
gigantic nest of wires. With two boys flanking me on
either side, I was literally dragged into the middle of
the first row of the first car. While I was busy figuring
out whether I was going to die from a 50 feet free fall
or a heart failure, a female voice boomed overhead,
and the vehicle slowly slid into movement.
We emerged into the dazzling sun, and that alone
immediately gave me a pretty good reason to
squeeze my eyes shut. The California Screamin'
gradually gathered speed, and after a gentle turn or
two, jerked sharply upwards. My uphill journey
seemed incredibly slow. like that sort of feeling you
probably know as a child, when you had messed up
something big and was waiting for the punishment
that never seemed to come. Well, I’d had exactly that
sense of foreboding and dreaded what was coming.
Then suddenly, there we were, balanced precariously
on the top of the arch, ready to plunge down at any
moment. I didn't know where I got the courage to
open my eyelids just a little, but somehow I did—and
the view from up high was absolutely amazing! It’s like
FROM A TWO-WEEK WINTER PROGRAM THAT
you’re soaring above the entire Universal Studios, as if
CHANGED MY
PERSONALITY, SORT OF.
you were up in the clouds, in a fairy tale. Below me,
people and vehicles and brightly-coloured houses
As it reached the peak, the vehicle stopped briefly,
stood like miniature Lego pieces. Oh, and how far and
adding a dramatic pause to the descent. I peeped
wide I could see!
through my eyelids and caught a fleeting glance of
That was when I realised that something amazing and
the entire Universal Studios—before we plunged
unbelievable had happened. Me, who half a minute
amidst screams. I clutched at the handles for dear life,
ago would have given anything to jump off the car,
but that birds-eye view of the park did its work. Five
was enjoying every second of the ride! I let go
e of the bars and felt the rush of wind in my
h
t
minutes or so ago, I would have never
f
o
o
g
“I let
believed I could have ever, ever stepped
d felt outstretched arms, imagined myself soaring
onto a roller coaster. Because the fact is, that bars an
the clouds. Yes, the downhill bit still
of above
all my life, I had always stayed as far away
nauseated me, but that was an experience I
the rush
from such things as possible—until my camp-
d in my now welcomed. The roller coaster did a few
mat es literally dragged me onto my first ride at win
gentler ups and downs, then came to a
hed more
Universal Studios. That was during a two-week outstretc
grinding halt where it had set out.
ed
winter program, which later became a turning
s, imagin The end came far too soon, I was still deeply
m
r
a
point in my life, sort of.
soaring engaged in the ride. Guess what? I can’t
For the first few days, I wasn’t particularly active myself
for another ride! So now it’s me, the
e wait
in camp. Very unlike how I am now, back then I
‘scaredy-cat’, pushing the others towards
above th
was described as ‘composed’ and ‘imaginative’,
the back of the queue for another ride!
clouds.”
both of which were probably just a polite way of
I know that a roller coaster ride isn’t much
saying ‘asocial’. Still, camp-mates and instructors
for most people, but for me, this experience
kept trying to get me involved in activities. That day
was a starting point for everything else.
we happened to be on a field trip to Universal Studios,
For the remainder of the two weeks, I decided to step
so I hung around with a small group of them.
out of my comfort zone. It was a time in my life when I
All morning, I had carefully steered clear of any
started trying all those new things I’d missed out on
attraction that yielded screams, but I hadn’t quite
before. Like walking up to strangers and starting a
escaped the impression that my camp-mates were
conversation, eating an Indian dish with a peculiar
trying to coax me into something crazy. So when they
smell, and—guess what—sleepover with friends!
stopped under an enormous roller-coaster track, I was
Which meant that, when I returned from the camp, I
beside myself. Fine, I thought, leave me alone. I’ll stay
was quite a different person!
on the ground taking ugly photographs of you
Ivy Chen, 15, Shanghai, China
37