I opened the classroom door slowly, as though I was afraid that it would fall off of its squeaky hinges. Young smiling faces looked at me, expectantly. I nervously gulped and sat down on the blue second grade chair. “Hello, my name is __________, but, my friends call me Lizzy. I am in 5th grade. Today, I will be reading you a book: The Story of Johnny Appleseed.”

I glanced around at the room, filled to the brim with young, innocent children, and experienced a rush of courage as I started to read the book. At certain points of the book, I paused and caught my breath. The lights flickered, and I struggled to read the book under the fading light. Finally, the lights just went out. I had no idea what to do; all the adults were out of the room. All I could do was sit and wait for anyone to come.

“Why wasn’t anyone coming yet?” My thoughts were filled with anger and impatience. All of a sudden, one of the students of the class decided to sing a song. They hummed. They clapped. All twenty-eight voices in the room, decided to sing the song. I couldn’t recognize the tune, but I listened.

These poor, poverty-stricken, hungry kids had to use whatever they had, to survive any possible circumstance. I was amazed at how even in such a horrible situation, these kids were able to see the light, the silver lining to the cloud.

I, coming from a sheltered, and wealthier township than these young students, had never had to do more than just ask for anything that I needed, or wanted. These kids had to work for anything they wanted, or settle for the worst. But, in fact, in this situation, the moment that surprised me the most, was that these kids, who were in one of the poorest townships I had ever been in, or even heard of, with the least amount of opportunities, still had a positive outlook on life.

In my sheltered and protected township, I had never been exposed to anybody less fortunate than me. When I first saw the school, I was shocked at what poor condition it was in. In my situation, everything from day one had been handed to me on a silver platter, with gourmet sauce on the side. This was one of the most significant moments of my life: I was able to realize that although you have almost no choice over the way your life will turn, always have a positive outlook on life, and everything will be fine.