Essay2-02: ~Walk in line~ (Community life)

I would like to introduce my neighborhood and my junior school days. I had lived in Tokyo for some years and moved here, my present neighborhood. In my neighborhood, there were a lot of junior school kids when I came here. We, all of the junior school kids were to go to school in a group. It was primarily for our safety, I think. Each group consisted of some kids and had a leader and a vice leader. I think it was also a community life. I would like to share you some lessons it gave me.

When I lived in Tokyo, we did not have such groups to go to school together. At first, I felt it was strange to have my own group, and I did not like it. It seemed to be troublesome, because we had to get together on time. If I was late, the time for leaving would get behind and I would feel so embarrassed. This is a kind of joint responsibility. I did not like that, but it was important concept in such a situation. However, it was a valuable lesson for me in that it taught me the importance of being on time. This community life also helped me to learn the ways of getting along with other kids. We walked in line and even now it is really memorable for me. I think that keeping order in a community is really important.

When I was in the 3rd grade, my group was made of 7 kids. The members were three in the 6th grade, one in the 5th grade, one in the 4th grade, me in the 3rd grade, and one in the 2nd grade. To me, senior kids seemed to have grown up. After a few years, however, I found myself in higher grades. Then, I have to try to take care of kids in the lower grades. I acted as a vice group leader when I was in the 5th grade, and finally as a group leader in 6th grade. I was not so puzzled about the role, because I had seen how each senior leader acted every year and which way was good for members. It is a kind of ‘tradition’. The role was taken over from seniors to juniors every year.

Of course, the role was not always easy to handle. Junior kids were sometimes late and sometimes fretful or selfish. Some kids walked slowly. I found those problems, but kids were also sweet. I think the experience helped me to have patience and sense of responsibility.

Now, this world is not safe, and we can not tell what happens to us. It can be expected that more and more kids will go to school in their own group for their safety. It is a good measure, isn't it? Some kids must find it difficult to be on time, get along other kids in the same group, and take responsibility. This community can be their pleasure, though it can be worries too. Those experiences will benefit them.

As a conclusion, communities have a great influence on our everyday and whole life! In my case, I learned a lot from the experience. It taught me being on time, getting along with other members in the group, patience, sense of responsibility. I felt the importance of keeping order in my community. Besides, the senior I become, the more responsibility I have. These points are the same in our society too. I will never forget the lessons, and I think I should keep the memories in my mind. It is about my childhood when I went to school in line...

[610 words]

total here = 2230 words