Thankfulness

I know I already posted about it being the last day in November, but before November's gone, I just wanted to share a mini-essay one of my students wrote on "What I am thankful for".  I was very impressed!  Remember, she is an English learner in high school (in the Embassy scholarship program).  She is one of the best students (very studious & sweet).

"I'm thankful for a lot of things that I've received in my life. First, and the most important for me, I'm grateful for my parents, because I have them alive and they work very hard to give to my brother and me all the things that we need (food, clothes, shoes, studies, etc.) and give us protection and love. They are comprehensive and patient with me.

I'm thankful for my health, because I don't have any illness. I'm grateful because I can see, I can use my hands, I can use my legs, I can talk, I can hear and I can breathe. I'm thankful that I live.

I'm grateful for my friends, because they've been with me in all the moments of my life (good and bad) and give me help and affection.

I'm thankful for the bad moments, because they let me to know my mistakes and help me to change my life and give me new lessons to learn.

I'm grateful for the good moments, because they give me happiness and I can share them with my family and my friends. I'm thankful for all."

A tear almost came to my eye when I read this.  Not only was her English awesome here, it really showed her maturity.  I was very proud to read this :)  She's getting a special treat! haha

I've been thinking of an idea for awhile about setting up a scholarship program or something between the class here and Gonzaga maybe.  Gonzaga has a good English language center where they have various leveled classes for English learners from all over the world.  It would be really cool if I could set up something with them to sponsor a student from here for a semester or two to learn English at Gonzaga.  I would love to be able to provide that opportunity for a student or two, especially when I see students like this one who really care about their studies and genuinely want to learn :)