Community Service

Last Friday, the whole 8th grade went on a field trip to do community service. We needed to do community service because the Thai Ministry of Education required us to interact with the Thai culture. The students were able to chose to go to either the day care center, the school for the blind, or farming and painting. I chose to go to the school for the blind because I wanted to face my fears. 

There were a lot of blind people in the school for the blind. I noticed that some of their eyes were grayish-white, including the pupil. When we arrived, one of the teachers at the blind school played a video for us about their students. From the video, I learned that some of the students were abandoned and were orphans. At the end of the video, six blind students went up on the stage and played traditional Thai music with a Thai flute, a Thai drum, and a Thai xylophone. I was amazed because I didn't know that the blind could play an instrument. The first activity that we did, was to talk to the blind by introducing ourselves. I got to know two blind girls named May and Cake, and they were really kind. I also got to know a blind boy, and his name was Aomsin. 

We played fun games with them, such as copying their dance and playing a hand game, which required five to six people. At the end of the game session, we went up to play soccer with the blind. When I arrived in what they call a field, there was no grass. It was an indoor field, with three goals at each end. The coach said that there needed to be one person in front of each of the goals. The players needed to try to roll the ball and shoot it in the net. Because they were blind, there had to be lines on the ground, in which they could feel to know where their position was in the game. I was so amazed because even though they couldn't see the ball, they were able to catch it. I learned that the blind has a very good sense of hearing. Three of the students from my school went up to try to play soccer with the blind. Unfortunately, we didn't do as well as the blind, because we never tried it before. At the end of playing soccer, we were able to walk around the school and explore the place. 

Because of this trip, I have learned a lot of things about the blind. I've learned that the blind can play instruments, have a good sense of hearing, and that they can play sports, such as soccer. Also, in this trip, I was able to face my fears. Before, I was terrified of blind children, but now, I find them as kind and caring people. I totally underestimated them, and I shouldn't have. This trip was fun and educational.

Patriots or Terrorists?

In the American Revolution, there were groups of people called patriots and loyalists. The patriots were a large group of people who fought for the colonies to become a new country, and the loyalists were people who were loyal to the British monarchy. I have heard that some people call the patriots terrorists. In my opinion, I would never use the term terrorists for the patriots. I believe that the people, who call them terrorists, are the people who support the British monarchy very much. Because I’m not a very big supporter for the British monarchy, I wouldn’t call the patriots terrorists. I think it was the right thing to do, when the patriots fought for their liberty. The reason for that is because, it was wrong of the British to only allow the colonists to trade with the them. In 1773, the patriots were brave enough to go onto the British ships to throw out the tea, so that the colonists would boycott from buying goods from the British. If they hadn’t done what they did in 1773, I think it would affect what America would be like today. Now, America is an independent, developed, strong, and civilized country because of the patriots and the colonists. In conclusion, I wouldn’t call the patriots terrorists because of the fact that they did the right thing for the colonies.