PIS Bulletin (SEC - Issue 2)

Getting Better Everyday

External Validation - what is external validation and why is it important?

At Panyathip, we believe that education needs to adapt to a fast changing world. This requires schools to constantly evolve with the changing times. Here at PIS, we always strive to get better everyday. But how do we do that? We start with reflecting on ourselves and ask “who else can help guide us to international standards”?

This is one of the main reasons why we sought membership from COBIS - the Council of British International Schools The largest premier global association for British schools in the world provides us with the external validation we need as well as the quality assurance to ensure that we continue in our path to self improvement.

SelfImprovement

Panyathip continues to role model its core values to our parents, students and teachers. Core values like open mindedness, being open to constructive feedback and being an agent of change has been in full display especially with our compliance of the 9 standards of COBIS namely: 1.Safeguarding and Safer Recruitment 2. Student Welfare 3. Facilities 4. Governance 5. Ethos and Values

6 Learning and Teaching 7 Leadership In The School 8 Communication 9 Extra-Curricular, Enrichment and Engagement.

We certainly didn’t have to, but we strive for self-improvement to ensure that we are delivering international standards of education for the benefit of our students

Network

This is one of the major areas of improvement that COBIS and FOBISIA - the Federation of British International Schools in Asia memberships brought to Panyathip. With the wide network that COBIS brings, our teachers are exposed to various professional development opportunities in the form of seminars, conferences, training and workshops, with a wide range of education and teaching related topics Our students have access to different competitions and collaborative projects with other schools in various countries which results in them having a broader perspective of the world. As a school, the networking opportunities, both online and face-to-face that COBIS facilitates provides a huge boost to us.

FOBISIA provides the same but in a more regional based approach, as we get to see and participate in what other schools in the ASIA region are doing

The completion of our full accreditation with COBIS is an opportunity that’s waiting for us in the next several months, one that we most welcome and look forward to, as we remain steadfast and dedicated to getting better everyday

Palinyakone Panyathip CEO

Palinyakone Panyathip CEO

KEEPING CHILDREN SAFE AT PIS

What you need to know?

What is Safeguarding and Child Protection?

Safeguarding and promoting the welfare of children is defined as Protecting children from maltreatment; Preventing impairment of children’s mental and physical health or development; Ensuring that children grow up in circumstances consistent with the provision of safe and effective care; and taking action to enable all children to have the best outcomes.

Child protection is part of this definition and refers to activities undertaken to prevent and respond to violence, exploitation and abuse against children

What do I need to do?

If you have a concern that a child is being harmed, is at risk of harm, or you receive a disclosure, you must contact a member of the safeguarding team as quickly as possible.

2022

We had a great start to the holiday season on Saturday 10th December as the long awaited return of one of PIS's most anticipated events of the year, Christmas Wonderland. The evening kicked off with fun, laughter and incredible entertainment Children from Early Years, Primary and Secondary campus performed a variety of songs and dances to start the proceedings

There was so much to do and so much variety that everybody young and old, boy or girl, found some enjoyment in the night We were also lucky enough for Santa Claus to pay us a visit and spend time handing out gifts and talking with the children. A job well done to all the students and staff that worked so hard to make this special night happen, and a big thank you to all of our sponsors, and booths that contributed to being part of the event

We can't wait for Christmas Wonderland next year!

Teacher Daniel Smith

Head of Early Years Campus

I want to take this opportunity to thank you all once again for your continued support and engagement in your children’s learning and development We have had an extremely busy 2/4 with a number of big Early Years and Whole school events, including Parent teacherConferences, STEM open day, Winter Wonderland and our first EY school trip for 2 years Once again I have been extremely impressed by the children’s resilience, persistence and commitment to learning and the huge progress that they are all should be very proud of where they are, as if you look back to the start of this academic year would be hard to deny that they have each come a very long way

Each child is at the very start of their journey towards the principals of our Panyathip Pillars of Trustworthiness, Citizenship, Caring, Responsibility and Fairness, and this is something that myself, staff and yourselves should also be very proud of

All to say is that I hope that you have a relaxed, fun filled and enjoyable and we look forward to welcoming the children back on campus on Thursday January 5

Early Years

STEM

Firstly, I want to thank all of you, our amazing families for making the effort to attend what was our very first open house event since the COVID - 19 pandemic first struck It was a wonderful opportunity for us to share with you our learning and for you to further understand what it is that we do everyday on our Early Years campus. STEM is an abbreviation of the subject areas of Science, Technology, Engineering and Mathematics

Within each of these areas of learning there are a number of key skills that can be developed through fun, engaging and exciting activities

The key STEM skills include;

● Creativity

● Inquiry Skills

● Math & Science skills

● Engineering-Design thinking

● Critical Thinking

● Collaboration

We were able to investigate, share ideas and explore different areas of STEM across our campus and to also have specialist robotics teachers and science teachers on hand to share their knowledge and resources with us to make it an even more engaging learning opportunity.

When thinking about our experiments we try to consider the Scientific method which helps guide our thinking and develop our understanding during our investigations.

Here our youngest students were investigating through an activity called ‘Walking Rainbow’ They were able to

investigate the way that colours mix and also make predictions about what colours may be made by mixing certain colours together

Sharing thinking and ideas are a vital part of STEM and throughout the STEM open day the children were provided lots of opportunities to see what each other had been learning and discuss their thinking with their teachers and friends

Here we have some of our youngest students again, sharing their learning with some of their older friends

“Why does ice melt?”

“What happens to it when it does?” “How does water become so hard?” These are all questions that were raised during the day

by our children who loved interacting with, observing and handling ice. Maybe you can continue this investigation at home?

What experimen ts can you come up with yourselves? Please

share your ideas with your class teachers

Our reception children investigated making gas. They used the scientific method to think about and share their ideas and then used bicarbonate of soda and vinegar to create carbon dioxide.

Daily learning

Daily phonics, supporting us to read and write by breaking down words to their individual letter sounds and then supporting us to blend them back together again to create whole words that we can understand Here we see

‘f’

Daily maths lessons have focused on many aspects including identifying numbers, counting, addition and subtraction but also we have been learning about prepositions and positional language such as forwards/backwards and under by taking part in outdoor physical learning activities.

Lao Curriculum

On a daily basis we are all actively involved in learning in both English and Lao and have recently been attempting to combine the two as much as possible. This has proven to be very successful Here the children are identifying Lao letters from the alphabet.

Visit from the Ministry of Education

We were honoured to have a visit by the MoE and an opportunity to tour and show off our

amazing campus. We discussed the importance of opportunities for every child to learn through both adult led

and independent play as well as how vital the physical development of children is in enabling

them to be able to complete considered simple tasks such as holding a pencil or jumping and landing safely

Field trip to Funderland

Our Reception children were the first to be able to go on a school organised outing since the onset of COVID-19

They had an exciting morning spent at Funderland in Parkson, as their ‘Entry point’ to a new IEYC topic ‘My Toy Shop’.

multisensory examples of investigating the phoneme

IEYC (International Early Years Curriculum)

The IEYC is made up of engaging Units of Learning encompassing all curriculum areas They are designed to support the holistic development of each child through enjoyable and playful personal, international and academic learning experiences that prepare them for the opportunities and challenges now and in the future

Each unit starts with an exciting and engaging ‘Entry point’ where they are introduced to the unit and their prior knowledge and understanding is gathered and assessed

The units then end with an ‘Exit point ’ where their understanding, acquired knowledge and understanding is assessed.

Examples of the units covered during this 2/4 include;

Brilliant Bug Ball

In which the children investigate minibeasts, life cycles, movement and scientific methods such as prediction and observation

This is me

In which the children investigate minibeasts, life cycles, movement and scientific methods such as prediction and observation.

Thinking about the concepts of past, present and future by matching her current picture to her baby picture during IEYC Exit Point)

Blast off! find there and investigate the solar system, astronauts and build their very own rockets.

The children are encouraged to use their imagination as they travel to the moon and stars, discuss what it would be like there, what we would

Teacher Nuky & Teacher Jacob

Wow! We have had a successful term and that is all because we work together as a whole school community. We are honoured to be part of this newsletter edition and to celebrate a fantastic and learning-filled term

It feels surreal to have the normalcy back in our Primary Campus All of the activities are now back to normal and the PIS Primary community has come together over the recent weeks by thinking of others through donations and kindness. In our STEM week event, we were able to celebrate international mindedness through a Fundraiser for the National Paralympic Committee Thank you for your support, dear PIS community, for the time and effort and for encouraging your children to give back to the community.

Our Parents evening have been very well attended and we feel privileged to share the successes and developments of your children We work together best as a team!

We have a lot of exciting events in place for Term 2 The lower and upper school Sports Days are coming up and we are excited to hear the loudest cheers from the House teams. We will also have the Year 5 Residential Trip, which is an overnight camping trip in the campus and a day trip to Nam Pien Yorla Pa. Colourful festivities are also in place as we are looking forward to celebrate Chinese New Year It has always been one of those events that we are looking forward too and the best way for us to embrace the diverse community that we have.

Learning showcases will continue and your child’s best interest will always be our top priority. It is important for us that your children is happy and safe whilst receiving the best standards of learning that we are giving

Thank you for your continued support of our Primary Campus A BIG thank you for allowing us to be part of your children’s educational journey. We are dedicated to providing your children the best learning experience and continue to ‘Become the Best that we Can Be’. It is a pleasure to work alongside you in raising these young world changers and change makers Here’s to an even more successful term in 2023 and beyond

Teacher Nuky Teacher Jacob

Achievements

Year 6 Residential Trip

The Year 6 students had a fun - filled residential trip in Vang Vieng from 9 to 11 November and were accommodated in Saksiri Riverside Boutique Hotel. The goal of this adventure was to give each student an opportunity to grow independently and make proactive choices that will help them become a better individual. They started by visiting a local school All of the participants had the opportunity to interact with the students at that school. Sharing their knowledge in reading and skills in playing various sports such as football and badminton are just some of the things they have experienced. The students had a wonderful time exploring the Elephant Cave and swimming in the Blue Lagoon where they challenged themselves on a childfriendly diving board. Everyone enjoyed the serene view of nature and kayaking in the Nam Song River It was impressive to see Year 6 students doing team building activities and successfully completing each game The determination and persistent effort to help and support one another made it even more meaningful for all the students involved. This gave them a new way to build friendships rooted in trust and collect memories that will last a lifetime. Surely, this residential trip allowed students to learn more outside the classroom and see life with a different perspective - a brighter future by becoming the BEST that they can BE.

We just finished our annual STEM Week celebration. This year's PIS STEM Week is an outof-the-ordinary event. This event's goal is to not only reinforce important life

skills and potentially spark a life-long interest in this critical field, but also to support our chosen organisation, the National Paralympic Committee (NTC) Our STEM week was jam-packed with amazing activities and outcomes! Students demonstrated their talent and skills by creating STEM-related displays and engaging activities for parents and visitors The activities in this STEM program are IPCinspired In years 1, 3, and 5 students learnt about force, which teaches about how things move

around us; year 2 students learnt about the unit Look and Listen, which discusses different types of sounds and how they travel; and year 4 and 6 students learnt about electricity, which includes circuit components Our enjoyable fundraising activities, such as balloon popping, face painting, and the thinking hat competition, were enjoyed by all Students were able to watch exhibition games from the blind football and wheelchair basketball teams, and they were all ecstatic and inspired to be a part of such an event Some of them were also given the opportunity to try blindfold basketball, which they greatly enjoyed. This event is also in collaboration with the VF Learning Center Ten Year 6 students had been chosen to receive scholarships for their outstanding work in creating the ''Steady Hand Game " At the end of the program, the proceeds we collected were given to the National Paralympics Committee. PIS would like to thank parents and sponsors for their contributions to the said event "Giving is not just about making a donation, it’s about making a difference. " – Kathy Calvin

Parent Information - Oxford Reading E.Learning Launch and Amazing Readers Certificates

We are delighted to tell you that our school is now using Oxford Reading Buddy. This is a digital reading service to support children’s reading development at home and school It contains hundreds of digital books and book quizzes all matched to each child’s reading ability Please log in to Oxford Reading Buddy https://www.oxfordreadingbuddy.com/ae when your child brings home their sign-in card and encourage them to use it regularly If you don’t have a tablet or PC at home, the service also works on a smartphone For more information go to this address and choose Parent Support: https://support.oxfordreadingbuddy.com/

Sporting Achievements

A great start to VSSA season 1 for our boys and girls primary Football team for their dedication and hard work in competing against different international schools in Laos Congratulations to our Primary Boys Football Team, who were victorious in the VSSA finals The boys performed excellently all season and topped it off by winning the finals against a spirited team. Well done to the primary coaching staff and the boys for doing PIS proud! Thank you for your unwavering support to our primary teams and please continue to support us next season Go Panthers!

Alice In Wonderland

Alice in Wonderland was a fantastic performance, made possible by the excellent efforts of our staff and students. Learners demonstrated great maturity and responsibility in the way that they conducted themselves during rehearsals and the show, and we were very impressed by their enthusiasm. At PIS we are very lucky to have a number of staff who are very skilled at supporting performances, and pupils who demonstrate outstanding readiness to participate in events like this.

Many thanks also to the parents and families of learners who supported us so well throughout the whole preparation, from costumes to supporting your children with memorising scripts. Performances like this depend on the collective effort of our school community, and the success is a reflection of our strong and supportive spirit.

Next term we look forward to the lower primary concert, we are sure it will be an enjoyable and enriching experience for learners.

in Wonderland

Next Term Initiatives

Year 5 Parent Information and Trips

Next term we are very excited about our year 5 residential trip which we will be organising This will be a chance for year 5 to experience independence and enrichment outside of a school setting. Our residential trip with year 6 during our first term was a fantastic success that promoted a number of life skills in addition to being extremely enjoyable for learners! We are very pleased to be able to offer a similar experience to our year 5 children next term Parents and families should wait for further information relating to this, as we will be meeting with guardians to discuss the details of this trip next term.

Lower School & Upper School Sports Day

The school places an equal importance to healthy and active living and this is exemplified in our annual School Sports Day This is held annually where students will compete among House Team Colours in games and sports events. Students will be sorted into four House Team Colours: The Blue Sharks, Green Wolves, Yellow Lions and Red Dragons and all are equally competitive to win the overall Champions Trophy each year Students are divided into groups depending on age and various events are held in order to determine the overall winner Competitions include Football, Handball, Basketball and Dodgeball for upper primary students and group games for lower primary students All students are encouraged to take part during the School Sports day. There are three classes of medals to be won: gold, silver, and bronze, awarded to first, second, and third/fourth place, respectively.

Chinese New Year Week

Next term we'll welcome Chinese New Year in style, through a range of Chinese culture activities in primary campus. The Chinese New Year celebration is a fantastic session of our Chinese language lesson, coupled with Chinese culture elements in art, craft and performance from each year level.

Students will be involved in the following activities: traditional storytelling, Chinese lantern making, Chinese paper cutting, Chinese calligraphy, Chinese culture quiz and Chinese games There will also be a wonderful assembly to celebrate Chinese new year As we welcome the Chinese new year with traditional showcases of activities, students will thoroughly enjoy the celebration!

Primary Gentle Reminders

Pastoral Care

Looking forward to next term, we would request that families and learners continue to bear in mind the following:

• Please ensure that your attire follows the school uniform code. If you are unsure about this, please see the parent handbook or discuss with your class teacher

• Please be aware that:

1. Learners cannot be dropped off at school before 7:30am

2. Students following the International curriculum in the afternoon must be collected between 3:30pm-4:00pm

3. Students following the Lao curriculum must be collected 4:30pm-5:00pm.

4. Adhering to these hours enables the school to guarantee and enforce the total supervision of learners throughout the school day and allows us to effectively facilitate our safety policies

Teacher Zayne Essop Head of Secondary Campus

I am delighted to be able to contribute to this month’s newsletter as the

of Panyathip International Secondary School. The second half term has started with a continuing to develop areas of our curriculum as well as focussing on ‘getting better We also welcomed our Year 11, 12 and 13 parents for our first Parents Meeting for this

now turns to our Year 11, 12 and 13 Mock Examinations which begins on the 11th January 2023. Besides providing an opportunity for students to analyse their performance and make the necessary adjustments to avoid the same mistakes in the actual examinations, the mock exams provide a real – time run through of what they will experience in a few short months Over the next few months, teachers will continue to offer invaluable support as coursework deadlines draws ever closer. Communication between parents and the school is vital during this stage.

Our Year 9 IGCSE Option Programme has started, and Year 9 parents have received a letter detailing our programme of support over the next few months as students consider the subjects, they will study next year Careers Week, an IGCSE Subject Information Week and Taster Day during the next few months will help to support decisions and we encourage you to have conversations at home with your child(ren) about next steps.

Finally, as we head towards the start of a new calendar year, it is timely that as a school community we take a moment to reflect on our values and behaviours that create a positive learning culture at Panyathip where we expect all students to achieve their best as a learner and a person Central to what drives our culture is our values for learning and community Thank you, parents, for your continued support over the past few months. I would once again like to acknowledge the wonderful work of our staff last term, firstly, in adjusting in such a flexible and professional way to the change and uncertainty that has characterised the year and, secondly, for their ongoing commitment to the learning and wellbeing of our students - the spirit of the PIS family continues to grow

I believe that our school continues to develop as we always know we can do better for our wonderful young people, and we will never rest in that quest for self-improvement. It is my absolute honour and privilege to continue to serve the BEST school in Laos.

I hope you thoroughly enjoy your time with your families and I look forward to welcoming you all back in the New Year, as we aim to make 2023 our best year yet!

We look forward to seeing you at future events.

Mr Zayne Head of Secondary

Former UK Ambassador to Laos –Motivational talk

by Mr Hugh Evans

On Wednesday 16th November 2022, Panyathip Secondary School was fortunate to welcome the former UK Ambassador to Laos, Mr Hugh Evans into school to speak with our Year 11, 12 and 13 students. It is a very important period in their educational journey as they prepare for the forthcoming

Mock Examinations in January and Mr Evans delivered a motivational talk to all about the need to have high aspirations and strategies for them to use as they prepare for the months ahead Students were engaged throughout the presentation and Mr Evans gladly answered questions asked by many of our students Thank you, Mr Hugh Evans for always giving your time to support our school community.

Principal of Oxford Sixth Form College –Presentation

by Mr Mark Love

Our Year 11 students were thrilled to meet with Mr Mark Love, Principal of Oxford Sixth Form College on Thursday 24th November 2022, to talk about the importance of working hard and taking your time to

consider their next educational steps. Mr Love talked to our students about the importance of getting the correct support as they prepare themselves for their mock examinations in January Mr Love also spoke with students about choosing the right academic subjects in A Level and explained the need to

study something they enjoy Thank you, Mr Mark Love for giving up your time to make a difference to our wonderful school community

English as an Additional Language –Celebrating our EAL Department

The EAL team serves PIS students by delivering support meant to facilitate their development of English language acquisition. The Programme enables them to participate with their classmates in the mainstream and have a more fulfilling learning experience.

We are committed to establishing an atmosphere of trust and risk-taking Our teachers deeply care about entrusted students and share a sincere belief in their learning abilities. Consequently, students are encouraged to make mistakes as there is simply no other way of learning. Lessons are carefully aligned with intended learning outcomes, designed in collaboration with mainstream teachers and unified across the board. We strive for genuine proficiency through acquisition and internalisation. That is why we put a very limited focus on grammar, as it can only spoil the appetite for English as a natural, living language. The lessons are filled with cooperative activities, games, research-proven techniques (spaced repetition, interleaving practice, etc.) and opportunities to experience success. Students’ performance is carefully monitored on a daily basis by the means of the gamified progression system, which includes experience points, levelling up and rewards

In short, our team addresses the linguistic and social needs of our bellowed students through EAL Programme which is not only researched-based but also celebratory of students’ desire not to be bored to death. When we say that we know that learning cannot be forced, we speak from experience Learning can happen only as a result of true passion and sincere engagement. Our students are too busy having fun to notice that they are actually learning

T. Nikita Head of EAL Department

Welcoming our Parents for our

Parents’ Evening

This half term we held our first subject-based Parents’ Evening for Year 8, 10, 11, 12 and 13 students and parents

half term

held our first subject-based Parents’ Evening for Year 8, 10, 11, 12 and 13 students and parents

Parents’ Evenings offer an important opportunity for parents to find out how their child is getting on; to ask questions to specific teachers and to find out ways their child can progress and get better in each subject It is for these reasons that we were delighted to have such a good turnout at the event and it was fantastic to welcome so many families onto our campus

As well as subject teachers and Homeroom teachers, we also had a Careers and University Guidance stand available for parents and students to speak to T. Carol, our careers guidance counsellor to discuss next steps, for example A Levels, Foundations, universities and job prospects It is important that students are considering their next steps and have open and honest conversations about their ambitions so we can support them the best way we can.

Callie Essop

Assistant Head of Secondary

Essop

European Languages Week

In September, we celebrated at PIS the diversity of European languages throughout a week of activities for our students.

The Modern Foreign Language organised many events to allow our students to open to different languages.

Screening French movies for KS3 and KS4/5

Organising a language quiz between all of our classes where they had to guess between French, Hindi and Arabic which language was spoken and Ethiopic, Devanagari and Georgian which alphabet was used

Doing a multilingual karaoke and ending this week with an Assembly led by the 9HB where they share what they learned about European Languages week.

Celebrating all things STEM – STEM OPEN Day

A few weeks ago, we welcomed parents and visitors to our STEM Open Day It was an amazing success with everyone coming together to celebrate all things Science, Technology, Engineering and Mathematics . For far too long in education, we’ve been working with the presumption of teaching to ensure our students get a “good job”. But what does that look like? What does it feel like? How can we provide the opportunities for them to ‘become the best that they can be”

In many ways, we are preparing students for jobs that don’t even exist We continue to work hard as a school community to provide our students with the best possible learning experiences.

The STEM fair on Friday 11th November presented our students with a great opportunity to showcase their talents to our school community. In Mathematics, students made cardboard polyhedra and displayed posters of famous mathematicians as well as pictures of the making of their projects In science there were models of ecosystems with detailed information and students on hand to present their knowledge.

Concurrently, there were a variety of game activities and Arduino projects taking place in the ICT zone where students presented their poster and models in terms of emerging technologies, experimented with their programmed digital projects such as robotics controller,height measurement ,banana piano ,smart trash bin 3D printer and animation etc In addition, our AS-IT students engaged everyone interactively with their created excel games on computers for others to take part in.

Artwork was on display for our community to enjoy. There were also STEM related activities going on around campus to stimulate curiosity in STEM subjects

There were medals and certificates for students who had truly excelled in their contributions including the house quiz. It was a thoroughly enjoyable and productive day and we thank everyone for their efforts in making the event successful

The science students have been enthusiastic and productive this half term towards their learning and contributions to STEM week . Key stage 3 students have been focusing on chemistry and physics topics in their lessons, developing their experimental skills and data analysis. The year 8 students in particular have been proactive and collaborative in group work tasks showing their talents both in class and during the STEM event on Friday 11th November Our key stage 4 and 5 students have continued to make good progress towards their Cambridge courses investigating functions of living things and how chemicals react

T. Andrew , T. Cath and T. Yohann Head of Science

For STEM week, the Year 7 students worked very hard on their geometry projects They created many types of cardboard polyhedra from nets Their ideas ranged from putting together many basic shapes such as cubes or pyramids and fitting them into more complex shapes, to building solids from a single net of up to 20 faces (icosahedra) Students got very creative as well and added many beautiful colours and patterns to their projects

Maths day was on Wednesday 9th of November. All students were invited to participate in a code breaking activity in the assembly hall Four codes had to be broken, each one of them provided a secret word and the four words together made a sentence Students formed teams of 3 to 4 and all teams managed to break the four codes.

During the STEM week, classes were given extra fun and challenging activities like Tangrams puzzles, mystery problems and maths calculation BINGO. These activities allowed students to apply what they have learnt from all their lessons It was very surprising and thrilling to see how they communicate and cooperate with each other to be able to solve different problems

‘Snail’ by Mai Chi is the school’s winning entry in the KS4/5 COBIS Poetry Competition. The poet is none other than the very gifted Mai Chi Although the snail is “No bigger than my palm”, nonetheless the poet finds that she has a lot in common with it. Both are susceptible to the external forces that assail us from all sides, all the while being aware of the unyielding march of time. It’s a finely crafted poem and, typical of Mai Chi, by the end she is able to find the strength to rise to these challenges

Student showcase – Snail by Mai Chi

Iwalkonapath

Winding between yesterday and tomorrow Pass the drooping bougainvillea, On the rain-stained wall Hangs a snail No bigger than my palm. We aremorealikethannot

His body, damped in mucus, glistened in the sun

My body, damped in sweat, glistened in the sun

On his back, weighed a shiny, chocolatecoloured cone

On my back, weighed a score, test-filled Days

Araindropfalls

On the small creature’s head

He shrinks Huddling under his stiff exterior A teardrop falls

From my worn out eyes I shrink Huddling under my stiff façade Still

He inched slowly, down the porous wall, Eyes set on the grasping leaves, his goal As slow as he is He slid on

Down the uneven wall he went Leaving a sparkling trail behind Still

I inches slowly, down the rugged paths, Eyes set on the looming college, my goal As tired as I am I, too, walked on

To the college essays I go Leaving childhood dreams behind Howmuchlongermustwecrawl?

Inch by inch

I glance at my legless companion Thoughtlessly grovelling onwards Bit by bit

His body melting in the sun Whata bleakexistenceitis Slowly losing parts of you What is there to gain From a bodiless shell?

Ihalt

My snail friend leaves me behind Running back

I pick up the broken pieces Useless dreams, futile hopes and pointless hobbies

My arms feel loaded But my legs feel light Myjourneyonwardsdoesnotslowbut hasten

For like a snail, I move onwards Hide from the rain and flaunt in the sun

Unlike the snail, I don’t melt Because I know Between tomorrow and yesterday Is today

And to lose myself today Is to lose myself tomorrow and yesterday Iam a nimblesnail

With a weightless shell

And the moments of today on my back

Mai Chi