Wan Hua Alumni Association
My School
by Jean Chow
Like most of my fellow alumni, I was born in Rangoon. I grew up in a typical Chinese family. We spoke Chinese at home and were forbidden to play in the streets. So we played with our cousins and friends at home. My parents decided to send me to school when I was about five years old. I requested to attend the same school as my aunt Jinnie and my cousin Ann Marie did - St Emilie's Convent.
Since we lived far away from the school, my parents made arrangements to have the school bus come and pick me up everyday. I was scared and cried in the first few days because of the unfamiliar environment I was in. After making some friends, I started to like school. As the time went by, I liked school more and more. And much to my delight, I was picked by one of the nuns to participate in the school's extracurricular activities. I had been performing in school plays since kindergarten. Naturally some of my happiest and sweetest memories were about singing and dancing on stage at school. These plays were led by my favorite nun, Sister Cecilia, whom I dearly miss.
As I grew a little older, my parents let me ride a train to school. Every morning, I looked forward to meeting with my school friends at the train station. We boarded the train and chatted until we arrived at the station near our school. The time we spent talking to each other as well as the images of the train stations, houses and trees along the railroad became a wonderful part of my childhood memory.
After all these years, I still remember Mother Dorothy, who was our Principal; my Chinese teacher Mrs. Song; my sixth grade English teacher Margaret; my 5th grade English teacher (I forgot her name but remember her pretty face); Saya Morris and Saya Raymond, who taught us Chemistry, Algebra and Science. I am forever indebted to all the teachers for the great job they did in educating us. I did not have a chance to attend Mrs. Sao's class, but I remember that she always had a smile on her face. Her daughter Dora and I were together in a play once. She played the role of a naughty child and I played the role of a fairy queen.
As I began to attend the 7th grade, my parents decided to immigrate to Taiwan due to a change in Burma's political climate. I felt really sad to leave the school and all my friends, but as planned we moved to Taiwan and started a new life there.