The student closest to my age, CL, is a gem. She calls me her sister, which means so much to me. She was asked to speak at my organization's Lenten Luncheon, which was focusing on the ESL program for the first time in recent years. She was to speak for about 5 minutes, in front of approximately 80 people. Those details alone can intimidate many people, but remember, she was also speaking in her second language, a language she knew nothing of four years ago! She wrote her speech entirely on her own.
We left from our ESL class to go to the luncheon. I drove, and two other students came along to support CL. I had to laugh when I realized that I was the only non-Mandarin speaker in my car. Although I didn't understand a word of the chatter, every now and then, English would slip into the conversation and I could get a sense of the conversation. Then, someone would stop to translate for me so that I would feel included.
CL was very nervous and said she couldn't eat anything for lunch until after she spoke. Fortunately, she didn't need to wait very long. She gave her speech and I was so proud!
She was amazing. She made people laugh, which I told her is such a compliment when giving a speech in the USA. She had altered her speech a bit from when she had rehearsed in front of our classroom, and her words of appreciation really humbled me.
I have no idea if the fundraising was a success, but I certainly know that CL's speech was!
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