From Notes to Melody

“Silent Night, Holy Night, All is Calm, All is Bright …” As the last piece of choral music drew to its final concluding note, the entire audience of SAS (Singapore American School) Christmas Concert burst into a standing ovation. As a chorus member and lead singer of concert, I felt overwhelmed by the tremendous pride for having shared such beautiful music, the melodies of heavenly harmony, with everyone at SAS.

Ever since the primary school, I had been on the Juvenile Chorus of Beijing Municipality. Although leaving China several years ago, my love for choral music cultivated in China has remained a crucial part of my life. Now in my 11th grade, I have even persuaded the schoolmaster to make SINGING as the 8th course in my curriculum, at the expense of my free period. The loud applauses from the audience made me realize how one can win appreciation by serving one’s community and bringing joy to the people of this community. In practicing singing and being a chorus member, I have also derived useful lessons that will nurture my personal maturity, deepen my understanding of the meaning of life, and enhance my love for this world.

In my 10th grade, my father had to leave Singapore for China due to job transfer. I chose to continue with my study at SAS by staying at a local boarding school. After some initial excitement, I faced an overwhelming sense of frustration. I had two roommates, from Malaysia and Viet Nam respectively. As holders of the Singaporean Government Scholarships, they study at two local government-sponsored schools that implement British educational system. With our different backgrounds, different ways of life and different school calendars, we lived our life as if on a 3-D coordinate, pulling into three wholly different directions.

Particularly, from 10 to 11:30 after the classroom for evening self-study was closed, our dormitory became a locus of a discordant trio. Snorting sound would soon come from the Vietnamese girl who would remain soundly asleep until 2 o’clock the next morning (when she would get up and turn on her lamp to study in the midnight tranquility). Meanwhile, the Malaysian girl was just to inaugurate the daily debating session—as hostess of the “Debating Club” based in our dormitory, she was the center of heated arguments joined by girls from neighboring dormitories. As for me—a mid-term transfer from China, I had to try my best to improve my English in order to adapt to the all-English environment and American education system at SAS. Additionally, I had to endure the agonizing loneliness of living far away from my parents. The sounds of snorting and arguing only aggravated my already frustrated and desperate state of mind.

As a practitioner of chorus, it soon dawned on me that what was happening to our dormitory was exactly like preparing songs in a new repertoire—harmony comes only after disharmonies. To change our discordant trio, we only needed some “orchestration” and coordination. We all wanted to improve our study, differing only in our strategies. Through concerted efforts, we could learn from one another and our different ways of learning could be complementary. My long experience of serving as class president back in China, along with my sociable and friendly personality, motivated me to be part of the group — by joining in discussions and contributing to a congenial atmosphere, I helped create a well-coordinated dormitory schedule. We talked about our future and our own countries. We learned to share many things— experiences and progress in our studies, our nostalgia, and our cultural diversity. Most importantly, we learned to understand and to compromise. In a word, we ended up being close friends. Our friendship culminated in the boarding school’s New Year Party when, at the end of our performance, we delivered the same message “Happy New Year!” in our three different languages.

It is the art of chorus that has enlightened me on the relationship between individual and community. For me, to transcend the status quo and to plunge into new environments is a necessary step in my growing-up process. The entire course of life is like surmounting a high mountain—numerous barriers of discordance have to be conquered before one attains the summit. China is striving to become a harmonious society and one aim of my life is to contribute to the grand melody of world peace and harmony.

(732 words)

　　　　　　　　　　　　　从音符到乐曲

　　合唱队的合唱曲目辅一结束，热烈的掌声随之在圣诞音乐会上响起。我作为合唱队的成员和本次音乐会的领唱，在刚刚享受了美妙的乐曲、奉献了和弦的声音后，又沉浸在幸福和满足的喜悦中。自小学开始，经严格选拔，我成为了北京市少年宫合唱团的一员；直至现在，虽然跨出了国门，音乐、合唱仍然是我的最爱，她忠实地陪伴了我10多年，即使在11年级选择放弃FREE PERIOD、也要说服校长同意将唱歌作为我选修的第8门课程。刹

那间，我仿佛明白了服务社会、为大众带来快乐和享受的原因，而且合唱给了我宝贵的经验和领悟，这经验和领悟已经并必将加快我的成长、加深我对人生真谛的理解、对生活的热爱。

　　回想10年级时，父亲因有新的工作任命离开新加坡，而我选择了留下并住在当地的一所女子寄宿学校。在度过了开始时的新鲜和好奇之后，接撞而至的是郁闷和彷徨。我有两位室友，我们三人来自不同的国家，她们都是新加坡政府奖学金的获得者，就读于当地政府学校（英国教育系统），不同的成长环境和生活习惯、不同的SCHOOL CALENDAR，我们的生活就象三维坐标，指向的是三个不同的方向。尤其是每天晚上的10-11点半，在学校自习室关闭后，我们宿舍揍响的是不和谐的三重奏：鼾声来自越南女孩，凌晨2点前是其睡觉时间、之后才是学习时间—安静学习效率高；讨论、争执声来自马来西亚华人女孩和舍友，此时是其“辩论俱乐部“—设在我们宿舍--活动时间；而我，由于从北京来不久，英语还未完全过关、美式教育方式还未完全适应，刚刚离开父母独立生活也面临着挑战，伴随鼾声和争论声的经常是心中的苦闷和心情的烦躁。

　　这不就像是在练习合唱吗？如何在拿到新的曲目后，大家如何迅速地和弦？我和室友都有明确的目标，只不过实现目标采取的方式略有不同，正好可以互相借鉴、互补！多年任职班长的锻炼和活泼开朗的性格，促使我主动和她们交流，参与她们的讨论、营造同步和谐的作息时间和良好的氛围；我们谈理想、谈祖国、交流学习心得；我们分担思乡、想念亲人的苦闷；我们一起享受学业进步带来的愉悦；我们学会了欣赏文化多样性，懂得理解和妥协；我们成为了好朋友。

　　是合唱，使我明白个人和群体的关系，超越现状（status quo）, plunge into新环境是成长过程中不可或缺的一步；生活、人生，就像是为了攀登到高山之巅、达到和弦的顶峰，首先必须征服无数个山坡和山岭，消除任何不和谐的因素。我的祖国正在以建设和谐社会为目标，而唱出世界和平和安宁的和谐曲，则是我人生的目标。