Newsletter (2017-2018) March 2018 Newsletter | Page 7

laughing on the street. I can see that those girls
cannot wait another minute to untie their pony-
tails, pulling them loose the moment they walk
out of the school gates. I heard them gossiping
about someone getting a new girlfriend from an-
other grade. Then I realized I was one of them; I
used to get up at 6am, I used to put on my uni-
form and even wear a tie in winter, I wanted to
curl my hair when I was not allowed to. I recall
the times when I used to see the same people
nearly every day and still we had endless things
to talk about. I used to be afraid of having lunch
alone and I depended on my friends very much.
Such little worries.
Nostalgia
By Linda Lin
There are many quotes telling us to move on and
to never look back. After all, you cannot repeat
the past. But memory is the one thing that truly
belongs to oneself. Your past makes who you are
now, and nostalgia is somehow irresistible.
It is common that people feel nostalgia when
they tidy up things. The things we owned must
come with a story of how we got them and how
we spent our time with them: the old toys, old
storybooks, old jackets and so on. I found my
old Nokia cellphone recently; this brand peaked
when I was in high school. Everyone wanted a
Nokia, including me. I had many fights with my
parents, I starved myself to save money and I re-
vised my weakest subject for days to get a higher
mark so that they would buy me the Nokia as a
prize. It was the first time I fought for something
that I really wanted, and later I realized how pre-
cious this feeling was.
I miss the times when I only had to worry about
whether I could pass a certain subject’s exam, in-
stead of how I will afford living costs for myself.
I miss the times when I felt everything was pos-
sible in the future. I had thoughts about being a
writer, being a filmmaker, even being an artist;
when I was young, I thought I was invincible.
Some idealistic thoughts fell away when I untied
my ponytail; I grew up, and I started to doubt if
I really was so invincible. But I still like my life
now; I can wear whatever I want, I can arrange
all my courses in the afternoon so I do not need
Those were the times when we still sent text mes- to get up early, and I do not have to do my home-
sages instead of using the social applications. work every day. More importantly, I still have
You did not have a profile bio to introduce your- passion inside my heart, and I still have faith in
self or to get information about other people, the good side of the world. I am still the girl who
you could not know where a person has traveled wants to be a better person, and I am still trying.
to because he or she marked the locations on the
photos they posted, and you can’t tell how much Nostalgia might cause you to laugh, remind
a person liked pink because of the hashtag “pink you the joy you had and encourage you to look
is an attitude”. Those times all relationships forward to the future. It might also bring you
started with the words exchanged between you. down and make you fear the future might only
You got to know each other through communi- be worse, but don’t be afraid, your past is a part
cation between the two of you, and you had the of you, helping you in the present as you build
excuse to message the person. Now if you want your future.
to start a chat, it is no longer that easy. You wor-
ry that everything you want to know about him
or her was already posted on the social applica-
tions clearly. Also, in those times, a cellphone’s
inbox could only save around 100 messages, so
you had to delete some. Usually I kept messages
sent from the boy I liked, and I guess most peo-
Linda is a student from
ple did the same thing. Although the bills from
the Language Studies
messaging sometimes shocked me, I still felt it
programme. She enjoys
was worth it.
reading and traveling.
I also feel nostalgic when I see secondary school
students wearing their uniforms, talking and
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MARCH 2018